Chuck vs The Butterfly Effect
by kkalyak327
Summary: Mary's need for family overcame her need for the CIA. This one decision changes the lives of everyone we've grown to love and hate. Will Chuck have an Intersect? Does Bryce face his demise? Chuck and Sarah; do they meet? Will Shaw face his downfall? AU
1. Decisions, Decisions

A/N: This is an edited version of this chapter and was done with the help of Gladius Grim.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck.

* * *

April 6, 1986

Langley, Virginia

Director Arnold Burrow's Office

11:00 am

Mary Elizabeth Bartowski sat outside of the CIA Director's office - Director Burrow. Her elbow rested on the armrest and her head in her hand. The chairs were surprisingly comfortable, seeing as she was in a completely uncomfortable mood. There were a countless number of reasons why she didn't want to be there, but three main reasons really stuck out in her head.

Reason number 1. It was her birthday. What kind of human-being enjoyed spending their birthday in an oversized waiting room; the waiting room consisting of only her and the secretary - the secretary that looked like she had no idea who she was the secretary to.

Reason number 2. She was extremely tired since her son picked last night to be the one night that he was going to be afraid of the boogey man. She tried time and time again to explain to him that there was nothing under his bed. She even went to the extent of going under the bed herself and saying, "Charles, there is nothing under this bed. Look it, there is no boogey man eating me." His response to that was, "Mom, why would he want to eat you!" With this she got out of the bed and sighed as she wiped the dust off of her legs. Without another word she took Charles' hand and led him to her room where he would fall asleep with his mother and father.

Reason number 3. Having to get up at four in the morning to be flown to Langley, Virginia could only mean a few things. You were either getting a promotion, relocated, or fired. She highly doubted she was being promoted-she was a good agent, but hadn't done anything above average lately. Getting relocated was at the absolute bottom of her list of things that she wanted with two kids and a husband at home. And getting fired-well, no one likes losing their job, especially when it means being burned. This could lead to possible, and probable, relocation, being stripped of all your government contacts, and never seeing your family or friends again.

Isn't getting fired fun?

All these things were running through her mind when the overly bubbly secretary told her that she could go into the Director's office. The secretary flashed her a smile that so bright that it had to have been bleached that way. Mary opened the huge doors leading into the Director's office. A plaque sat on his desk said 'Director Arnold Burrow' and next to that was the CIA logo.

"Take a seat Agent Bartowski," She did so, still curious as to why she was sent on a five hour, non-stop flight California to Virginia, "I bet your wondering why you're here," She answered his question silently. Yes, that was pretty much what she was thinking. Unaware the Director contined. "The agency, and me included, believe that your location is compromising your ability to succeed on your given missions."

Mary just sat there staring at him with a questioning look on her face.

"Agent Bartowski...Mary, I know this is going to be hard on you, but you need to understand that is in everyone's best interest. Your situation at home is interfering with your life as an agent. We can't have our agents turning down missions because of personal events they have going on. You're starting to do this on a weekly basis. This is why we are relocating you to one of our CIA bases in France. Paris, France to be specific. You have the rest of today and tomorrow to pack and say your goodbyes. By then we will have a packet with your plane tickets, new ID, and all of your cover information."

"W-wait, no...I-I need more than two days. You're asking me to leave my family, and you're only giving me two days. I need at least a week. Please," She said with a pleading look in her eyes. How could she leave her family, her kids, her husband, "Please."

The Director seemed to give this a lot of thought. With a sigh he said, "Fine, one week, and if you don't leave on that plane in one week, then I will be forced to relieve you of your duties as an agent."

"Understood, and thank you," She spoke softly as she stood up and shook his offered hand.

Well, that was one hell of a birthday present.

Mary got on the first plane that would bring her home. Even though she was forced to sit next to a man that snored like a hog on steroids, in front of a women with a baby that cried as loud as an ambulance siren, and an elderly women was giving her the nastiest looks she wasn't aware of them as her mind raced. Too make matters worse when she was able to calm herself she didn't have a window to look out, she couldn't sleep, and on top of that she was starving, but she would remind herself none of that mattered, as long as she got home to her family as fast as possible. After hours of flying in a very uncomfortable seat in coach that seemingly seemed to feel it stretched into days, she was home.

Mary ran into her house as fast as possible and managed to trip over the coffee table, hit her shoulder on a door frame, and then stumbled over a vacuum cleaner cord. She ran to her closet, yanked the door open, grabbed her suitcase and started shoving clothes, random trinkets, and anything else she could manage into it. As she was shoving items into her suitcase, a large hand gripped her arm and stopped it from moving. She looked over her shoulder to find her husband staring down at her.

"Mary, what are you doing?"

"I, um, I can explain, its just-," she was quickly cut off by Stephen Bartowski.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. Come sit down and explain to me what's going on," he led her to the edge of their bed and gently pushed her down.

"I, uh-," eh, screw it she told herself while looking at her husband. "Stephen, we need to pack and we need to leave. I...I'm a CIA agent and they want to relocate me. To Europe without you and the kids. I just, I can't do it. I can't leave my family! They gave me a week to say goodbye and pack, but if we get ready and leave now we can just go. We can run and go to some place tropical and-and be done with all this."

He just sat and stared at her for several seconds that seemed to go by slower than years. Finally he decided to break the silence, "Finish packing, I'll go tell the kids to get together a suitcase of their stuff and we'll leave."

"We can't leave just yet, I need to get us all new ID's, plane tickets and a car and-," she was once again cut off by her husband.

"I have ID's for all of us and we can get the tickets at the airport," he said as he was leaving the room.

"Wait, why do you-" Mary was in shock as she looked at her husband wavering between fear and relief…relief won out.

"I'll explain later, right now we need to pack and leave as soon as possible," With this he left the room and told a six year old Chuck and an eight year old Ellie to pack up their most important belongings because they were going on a long vacation.

Once they were all packed they had an almost silent car ride; Chuck constantly broke the silence asking where they were going, how long until they get there, and why were they going. All these questions got answered by the same response, 'It's a surprise, Charles'. Mary couldn't get the thought that they had over a million dollars split up between the four suitcases. She had no idea how her husband had that much money, but she was dying to find out.

As they got to the airport, Stephen and Mary had quietly decided that Rome was a great place to start their new lives.

* * *

July 17, 2009.

Glendale, California

Office Building

12:00 pm

Chuck drove up to a one-story office building that sat between a grocery store and a pizza place. He decided to drive a dark sedan that would draw less attention to himself. Once he reached the building, he casually got out of his car, walking confidently to the door. His mother always reminded him, 'If you act like you're supposed to be there, then people will believe it'.

As he reached the door, it took him about two minutes to hack the network and unlock the door. Chuck slowly moved into the office and spotted two desks, each with a computer on it. Looking around he silently strode over and decided to use the desk to his right.

As the computer was turned on, all Chuck could think about was how creepy he felt sitting there. The dark office was probably soothing in the daylight with quiet music playing and the windows allowing light into most of the room. Right now, the office was dark, quiet, and mysterious. He knew this was a cover location for Project O Mellor's secret base. The project had all the information on the Intersect that the government had in that base. It contained everything from data, statistics, and parts for the Intersect 1.0. Yet all they had on the Intersect 2.0 was the information that his father's old partner had leaked to the CIA. Once Orion found out, he had quickly got rid of that partner but the damage was done.

Once the computer had finished starting up, Chuck went to work using some of what he learned at Dartmouth University over five years ago. Chuck had earned his bachelor's degree in computer engineering. His fingers flew quickly over the keyboard even though he constantly felt as if a spider was getting ready to jump onto the back of his neck. Swatting reflexively at his neck, Chuck would feel nothing. There was never a spider, that's just how freaked out he was to be there. This was his first real mission he'd been on without either his mom or dad with him. Before he had left his mother told him, 'remember to use everything I've taught you over the years. It's time for you to act like a spy now, Charles'. His father then just kept repeating the steps on how to hack into the CIA's mainframe. even though Chuck didn't need that advice, he appreciated it, none the less.

Something cold and metal was pressed to the back of Chuck's neck. Suddenly broke him out of his thoughts, his fingers froze above the keyboard. He tensed almost instantly and squeaked out, "Don't shoot, please, just don't shoot me."

"I'm going to back up and then you're going to turn around, slowly, with your hands in the air. Try anything funny and I'm going to shoot you and enjoy it."

Chuck started turning slowly and he saw the gun pointed directly at his head. His eyes rolled back in his head as he flashed. Bingo! As he was turning Chuck quickly launched his right leg up kicking the gun out of the huge man's hand. Now that Chuck was face to face with his offender, he could see that the stranger's face matched his gruff and terrifying voice. Chuck managed to throw a punch to the side of his assailant's jaw disorientating him for a mere second. The next thing Chuck knew, he was flying through the air slamming into the desk on the farthest side of the room. Its computer went crashing to the floor and the lamp did so as well.

It took Chuck longer to get his mind back in one place than it did the giant brick of a man. Chuck slid off the back of the desk so he had a barrier between him and the moving angry brick. He rushed over to his attacker and sent a kick to the man's stomach and side swept the bricks legs. He went stumbling down and landed flat on his back. Chuck quickly found the pressure point in the giant man's neck and saw him slip into unconsciousness. Sighing in relief Chuck strode back to the undamaged computer to finish his job.

As he was typing, he spoke into his watch, "Dad, I just put down an agent, and quite frankly. He was huge."

A familiar voice chirped into his earpiece, "Good job son; and it looks like that was...Agent John Casey. NSA. There are three other agents involved in Project O Mellor."

"Thanks. I'm getting into their mainframe now, and will be in the base in about 1 minute."

Chuck easily got into the program and unlocked the doors to the CIA base. Once he got passed the door, he made his way down the stairs and went directly to the computer. His fingers started flying over the keyboard as he tried step by step, tried to open the Intersect files.

He might have had time to fight the giant brick, but this didn't give him any time to defend himself. His shoulder smashed forward into the desk and he stared at the blood oozing from his shoulder. That alone, was enough to make him pass out.

* * *

July 17, 2009.

Glendale, California

CIA Base Under the Office Building

12:36 am

Chuck woke up completely unaware of where he was. He found himself on a cold, hard floor looking up at a gray, metal ceiling above him. A bench sat behind him, mocking since he wasn't on it. The room was lit so bright that it bothered his eyes at first, until he was able to adjust. A large, transparent door sat in front of him, but no one was behind it.

Realization shot through Chuck so fast and hard that he didn't understand why he had forgotten in the first place. His shoulder was throbbing with so much pain, it was almost unbearable. He felt as if a thousand knives were stabbing his shoulder and he suddenly knew why. He'd been shot on his mission. He must have passed out and one or more of the agents had thrown him in a holding cell. This cell was probably in the CIA base that he had broken into to delete all the intersect files from.

* * *

Casey and Shaw were sitting at the conference table as they waited for the rest of their team to arrive. Shaw earlier had sent them a warning message letting them know that someone had been trying to get into Castle. Sarah was the first to come arrive asking what happened.

"Casey, what's going on? Who tried to get into Castle? Where are they now?" she asked in one long, rushed breath.

"Don't know who he is yet. Shaw shot him in the shoulder and he passed out." Casey grumbled.

"Wait, you shot him? Why?" Sarah asked looking at Shaw.

"Casey's, turn around slowly approach didn't work, so I figured my way would turn out easier. It did." Shaw shrugged.

"Where is he?" Sarah asked looking around.

"What? Why?" Shaw asked with a frown.

"You shot him so someone's got to look at his wound." Sarah fought the urge to roll her eyes at the obvious reason.

"It was through and through, he'll be fine. We also found a tracker and an earpiece on him. We tried to trace where the signal was coming from, but it bounced right back to us. Whoever he's working with must be pretty damn good." Casey growled with a grimace.

Sighing Sarah walked quickly to a cabinet grabbing the medical field kit. "I'll go stitch him up and see if I can get any answers out of him." With that, she left.

Walking down the hallway of the holding cells Sarah soon reached the one containing their intruder sitting who was sitting on the floor next to the bench. Studying him she saw a man with curly, brown hair that was plastered to his skin and held a sheen of sweat. His now red, but what she believed used to be a white, button-up shirt was soaked with his blood. Sarah frowned as she now noticed on closer inspection that he was sitting on the floor with his hands cuffed to the bench.

She punched in her code and opened the door, "What's your name?" She asked without preamble.

"Mmmm. I don't think…I'm supposed…to tell you…that," he had to stop several times in that one sentence to catch his breath as he grimaced in pain.

"Well, if you want me to fix you up, you're going to have to tell me your name." Sarah held up the medical kit.

He sighed and thought about it for a few moments, "Charles Carmichael. You can call me Chuck."

She opened the medical kit and grabbed a gauze pad, "So, Chuck, why'd you try to break into Castle?" she said as she pushed the pad against his wound and applied pressure.

He moaned and tensed as she did this, but still managed to answer her question, "Telling you would probably get me shot in other areas I would just as well keep in one piece."

She sighed and applied a little more pressure than necessary, "I wasn't exactly asking you to tell me what you were doing in here, I was telling you. Now why the hell did you try to break into a CIA base? And how the hell did you know it was a government building?"

He once again moaned at the added pressure and yelped out, "I-I can't t-tell you."

"Chuck! You think that the big guy that shot you is bad, well just wait 'till you get me mad. It's not going to be fun for you, Chuck. Me, on the other hand, I'll have a shit load of fun, but you...not so much. So tell me how and why, Chuck. Make it easy on yourself."

He just sat there and slowly shook his head. Chuck closed his eyes ready for what was to come.

She jabbed the pad into his wound until he yelped and said, "I-I can't tell you that, sorry!" he apologized and winced as she applied extra pressure again.

She noticed that the blood flow was very small, so she kept the pad on with one hand and she grabbed the rubbing alcohol with the other, "Here's your problem, Chuck. I was going to give you some drugs so you don't have to feel the painful part of this cleaning, but you keep telling me that I should let you feel every bit of pain. Is that what you want, Chuck?"

He shook his head and met her gaze with his huge, brown eyes. Those eyes look so innocent. They didn't look like they belonged to a cold hearted killer. She put the rubbing alcohol down and picked up a small pair of scissors. His eyes widened and a terrified look was plastered on his face.

She sighed and said, "No, I'm not going to cut you. I need to cut open your shirt if you want that bullet hole fixed."

He gave her a small nod, but his eyes still revealed how petrified he really was. She cut open his shirt and noticed his rather muscular chest. The chest could be one of a killer, but the eyes. The eyes couldn't. She felt those eyes staring at her and she noticed that she'd been staring at his chest for a little longer than necessary. She cleared her throat, "Tell me why you're here, Chuck. Tell me what you know. Tell me everything and I'll go easy on you."

He stared into her crystal blue eyes for several long moments before he looked down and blushed. This was another thing agents didn't do, blush. Who was Charles Carmichael?

After that blush all he did was shake his head. She really didn't want to do this, it was completely inhumane and it was going to hurt more than getting shot did. She grabbed the rubbing alcohol, took the pad off his wound and said, "One more time, Chuck. Why are you here?"

He just closed his eyes and bit down awaiting what was to come. She un-capped the bottle and poured half of it directly on Chucks bullet wound. He shouted a line of expletives so loud that she was sure people outside could hear it even through the soundproof walls of Castle.

Sarah continued to clean his wound and stitch it up without any drugs to soothe the pain. She would continuously ask the same questions and get the same answer, nothing. She almost felt bad for the guy. Almost.


	2. PacMan Adventure

A/N: Thanks for reviewing/reading the last chapter. I wanted to thank **enigmamdw** and **Gladius Grim** for beta-ing this and helping me so much with this chapter. I don't think it would be anywhere near what it is now, with out them.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Chuck or Pac-man.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Pac-Man Adventure**

The cell was dark. Apparently the blonde agent felt the need to turn the lights off. If this was part of her 'torture technique', it wasn't working. The 'let's torture him while fixing him up technique', on the other hand, nearly had him spilling his guts to the ridiculously hot, but extremely angry blonde. A few more stitches and he wasn't sure if he'd had been able to keep silent.

Chuck could still smell the different medical materials used in his bullet wound patch up no more than twenty-five minutes ago. That smell, mixed in with the ice cold bench made it impossible for him to forget where he was and go to his happy place. Instead, his thoughts kept drifting back to how his first mission had turned out to be a complete failure so far; his throbbing shoulder being a constant reminder. He wasn't sure how his parents were going to respond to this, but he couldn't see a new mission in his near future.

The bench that he previously decided to sit on about ten minutes ago was almost as uncomfortable as the floor. At least on the floor, he felt like there was nothing else that could go wrong. On the bench, however, plenty of things could go wrong.

The bench could break.

As unlikely as that was, it could happen. Because of these possibilities, he was going back to the floor.

* * *

A pissed off Sarah Walker quickly stormed into the conference room, making her way to the wall lined with cabinets and throwing the medical kit into one of the slots.

"First, he kicks Casey's ass, and now you get nothing out of him. I think it's time I took a whack at this guy," Bryce blurted out, cracking his fingers, and getting ready for some fun.

"I just poured a bottle of rubbing alcohol in him, and he didn't say anything. I think you should wait and let him sweat a little." Sarah said to Bryce.

"You made him drink it?" Bryce responded incredulously.

"No, Bryce, I didn't make him drink it. I'm not an idiot." Sarah snapped back at Bryce, the exasperation of both her seemingly incompetent partner and her obvious failure at getting her prisoner to talk, momentarily getting to her. Seriously, the Intersect is degrading his brain...

Ever since the Director had called them back from their previous mission and placed them on this new objective, Bryce has become continuously more conceited and egocentric. Every time the government inevitably boosts his ego by giving him a new job, or putting him on a project only a few of the best agents get to be a part of, then his cockiness level reaches an all time high. This was constantly affecting her and the team as a whole. Having Bryce as the Intersect seemed to increase the work they had to do, instead of eliminating some of it as it was meant to do.

Seemingly oblivious that she said anything in the first place Bryce spoke up, "I'm going to use my persuasive skills to get him to talk. Face it Sarah, we all know you don't exactly have the best interrogation techniques."

And here was another reason thrown onto the pile, of why she was starting to hate Bryce Larkin. One day they were partners and the best damn team the CIA had. Now she was just one of the three agents Bryce thought he was better than, because he has the Intersect. All she wanted right now, was for the Intersect to have a catastrophic meltdown.

What she didn't know was that this threat was all too real.

Bryce cockily went down the hallway, mentally running through his different interrogation techniques in his head. He could break a few bones until the intruder squealed. He could act like the guys best friend so he would willingly talk. Or he could use the old Larkin charm to get him to talk. Usually that only worked on the ladies, but eh, you never know.

Walking down the long corridor, he could see that the cell was about ten feet away. Unfortunately for him, he never made it to the cell.

No interrogation method could help prepare him for the two feet coming down about inches above his head. Before he knew it, everything was black.

* * *

Sitting in the cell, Chuck found himself feeling extremely alone. This was how he had begun to feel on a regular basis lately. He had his parents, of course, but they weren't exactly great company. His dad was constantly working on his computers or improving the Intersect. Whenever he was with his mother, she either wanted to train him or talk to him about the next mission he had to sit on the sidelines of... "Stay in the van Chuck". Whenever he felt alone, it led him to think about his sister. He only saw her about two or three times a year; usually on Christmas and birthdays. Their family always spent Christmas together. It didn't matter where they were in the world; they always managed to have Christmas as a family. A family of super-spies, albeit non-governmental spies, super-computer creators, and a doctor - but still a family just the same. Chuck had been close to Ellie since they were the only unchanging companions each other had. Once she left at the age of eighteen, he found himself very alone.

* * *

_"Mom, Dad. Can I talk to you guys? It's important."_

_"Of course, Eleanor. What is it?" Her mother responded looking up from her paperwork. Her father stopped typing on his computer long enough to swing her direction before she continued._

_"I," She took a steadying breath, "I'm leaving. I can't handle this constant moving...an-and being spies! You guys say you're spies, but you don't work for the FBI or the CIA. What are you then? Does this make you criminals? If calling yourself a spy is a fancy name for being a criminal, then I want no part in...-" She paused to throw her hands in the air in a dramatic gesture, "...all of this!"_

_A 15-year-old Chuck with his bedroom door cracked open, overheard his sister tell his parents that she's leaving...leaving him. All alone._

* * *

He understood what his sister had meant now. From the age of six, they had moved all over the world. Never staying in one place for more than two or three years at a time. Every friend he made, he had to give up.

Before they had moved to Rome, he had made what would amount to his best friend while he was still in Kindergarten. His name was Morgan Grimes. Chuck would always have Morgan come over and they would play Donkey Kong and Mario Brothers on his Nintendo. Then one day he had to tell his best friend that he was moving far away. Back then it didn't seem like a huge deal because they didn't really understand it. Now, Chuck knows that Morgan Grimes was one friend, in a list of many, that he has had to say goodbye to.

The year that Ellie left, he stopped trying to make any friends all together. He figured it just wasn't worth it.

The constant beeping from the small monitor on the wall broke him out of his thoughts. He looked up to find what seemed like a map of the Castle crossed with a classic Pac-man maze. What caught him as strange on the map was that the cell he was in had Pac-Man in it, then yellow dots led to the exit. There was also three ghosts clumped together in what he assumed was the conference room; the fourth ghost was heading his way.

"Thank you, Dad," He whispered to himself when suddenly, the door to his cell opened and he was free and grinning. "Looks like I have to go eat some ghosts."

* * *

Sarah, Casey, and Shaw were all sitting in the conference room trying to find out who this mysterious Charles Carmichael was. Sarah sat in front of one of the numerous monitors trying to run his picture though the face recognition software. Shaw sat at another monitor running the name 'Charles Carmichael' through several government databases. Neither of them were expecting to find much tonight, but one could only hope.

Casey was sitting at the conference table cleaning his gun. There was really no need for it, but it kept him calm. And right now, after facing a pathetic defeat from their intruder, keeping his calm was all too important.

Shaw found several Charles Carmichael's in the database. One was an African American in his fifties's. _Not him_. Another was an albino living in Alaska- _definitely not him_. He found one that seemed to match their intruder's description, but then at the bottom of the file it said, 'deceased'. _There goes that one_. Shaw even managed to find a woman named Charles Carmichael. _Not...her_. He kept searching and found no matches, which was sadly, as he expected.

Sarah's search read four percent done when Casey said that he's going to go see if Bryce got anything out of Carmichael. This left her and Shaw alone with the computers.

"Don't listen to him."

"What?" Sarah asked having no idea what he was talking about.

"Bryce. Me and Casey know that your interrogation techniques are...top notch."

"Thanks. It's just-. He acts so much different now that he has the Intersect. He acts like he's-"

"God?"

She gave a small, but fake laugh, "Yes."

Shaw started to roll his chair over to her desk, but stopped immediately when they heard a crashing noise. They bolted up out of their seats, guns in hand, and ran down the hallway toward the cells.

* * *

Chuck got quickly out of his cell and heard someone coming down the hallway. He made his way to the ceiling with one foot on each wall, climbing until he reached the top. Ignoring his protesting sore shoulder, he waited until he saw the frat-boy of the group make his way, slowly, down the hallway. Chuck wished he would move a little damn faster so he didn't have to stay in this extremely uncomfortable position against the ceiling any longer.

It sure looked easy in the movies.

_It's wasn't._

When the frat-boy finally reached him, he dropped his feet and fell right on top of him.

_One ghost down- three to go._

Cautiously, he made his way down the hallway, wishing he had some sort of weapon other than his hands. Chuck still didn't love the idea of using a gun. His mom had tried a countless number of times to get him to use one. She trained him to shoot, and he was a good shot, but he couldn't picture himself injuring a real person with a bullet. One of these days, that would change. Eh, probably not.

Clinging to the wall, he opened his ears to hear if there was anyone around the corner. Right about the same time as he was about to move, he heard quiet, steady footsteps making their way towards him. Chuck waited at the corner until the footsteps were seconds away from him and he jolted forward sending a kick to the attacker's nose. The snapping noise indicated that the nose was, most definitely, broken.

This is when he noticed that he was fighting the brick again. This time he got a better look at him and the brick triggered a flash.

**ALIAS: JOHN CASEY**

**ALEX COBOURN**

**RECRUITED INTO U.S. SPECIAL OPS TEAM BY COLONEL KELLAR**

**MEMBER OF U.S. AIRFORCE**

**RECRUITED INTO PROJECT O MELLOR BY GENERAL DIANE BECKMAN**

The flash left his guard down long enough for a fist to slam into his gut. As he was stumbling backwards, he managed to position himself for a right hook to Casey's jaw. He swept the Major's legs and watched him go tumbling down. Sadly, Chuck went down with him. A cold, hard boot slammed into his bad shoulder and he howled out in pain. This paralyzed him for a second and a fist clobbered his face.

Chuck quickly scurried far enough away that he could get up to fight. He balanced himself and as Casey came over, he threw his leg into the air and landed a roundhouse right to the Major's face.

He was out cold.

_Two ghosts down- two to go._

Chuck imagined Pac-Man going down the hallway eating the yellow dots and making a beeping sound after he reaches each one. The thudding footsteps of the last two ghosts...do ghosts even make thudding sounds? Ah, it doesn't matter right now as he smashed his back against the wall. Right when he saw the point of the first ghost's gun come around the corner, he grabbed the ghost's wrist and twisted until he heard a snap. Thankfully, it was a man's wrist. He would feel terrible doing that to a delicate women's wrist; even if she did pour a bottle of rubbing alcohol into his open wound. He felt a tinge of guilt for breaking the man's wrist, but when he realized that this was the man who shot him, all the guilt flew out the window.

Now that the man was stunned for a second, he kicked the gun out of the blonde's hand. He did a lot better when he wasn't going into a gunfight unarmed. Normally, in this situation, he wouldn't have the best confidence in himself, but since he had a hell of a lot of anger to aim at these two people, he figured he could win this fight with no problem.

Usually one of his best assets was becoming a rather large problem and it was pissing him off. Once he got a better look at the man, he flashed. Again, causing him to be unstable for a few seconds; giving his enemies time to attack.

**SPECIAL AGENT DANIEL SHAW**

**WORKS FOR CIA**

**DECEASED WIFE: EVELYN SHAW**

**RECRUITED FOR PROJECT O MELLOR BY DIRECTOR LANGSTON GRAHAM**

Thanks to Chuck's stunned state, the blonde was able to plant a kick directly to his gut. He went down and looked directly at her causing another flash to occur.

**AGENT SARAH WALKER**

**WORKS FOR CIA**

**FATHER IS JACKSON BURTON**

**RECRUITED TO CIA BY DIRECTOR LANGSTON GRAHAM AT AGE 17**

**RECRUITED FOR PROJECT O MELLOR BY DIRECTOR LANGSTON GRAHAM**

Once again, the flash left him vulnerable and in return he got a harsh kick to the ribs. Chuck made a mental note to tell his dad about the flash problem. His father was going to somehow have to find a way to make the flashes occur much faster, or have them be voluntary, rather than in the middle of a fight. The last kick triggered another flash and this time, it could be of use. A very familiar Kung Fu symbol went through his mind and he flipped onto his feet. Punches were thrown at him, but he managed to evade every one of them. He sent a kick to agent Shaw's back and then another to the back of his knees. The man went down, and Chuck knocked him out with one last kick to the head. This left him with one very angry looking Agent Walker.

Even though she was throwing punches left and right, he still didn't want to hurt her. Chuck wasn't sure if it was because she looked like a goddess sent from heaven above, or if it was because she was a girl. Either way, he continued to block her punches and kicks. After several minutes of this constant evading, he decided enough was enough. Chuck swept her legs causing her to instantly fall to the ground. After he heard the rather painful thud, he knelt down simultaneously flipping her onto her stomach, and pulling one of her arms behind her back. Making her unable to move, much to her protest, he took his free hand and squeezed the pressure point between her shoulder and neck forcing her into unconscious oblivion.

Sighing, Chuck carefully got off of her and sat against the wall for a few moments catching his breath. He knew he had gotten to be a decent fighter, with the training of his mother, but without the Intersect, that fight would have gone to agent Walker in a heartbeat.

Not wanting any of the agents to wake up when he was still there, he forced himself get up and walk towards the door. Making his way up the metal staircase, he noticed how much his whole body ached. His shoulder throbbed, his face felt swollen, and his head felt as if a jackhammer was slamming into it. Un-coding the door and pulling it open, he said to himself, "Four ghosts down, none to go."

_Level up._

* * *

A/N: Hope you liked the chapter. Please review!


	3. Unexpected Encounter

A/N: Sorry this chapter took a little bit longer, but with summer ending so does my beloved free time. You'll see a little more Chuck/Sarah interaction.

Big thanks to **enigmamdw** for being a great beta. Without him, Sarah would be non-existent in some scenes and Bryce would be a level of cockiness, even he can't accomplish. And another big thanks to **Gladius Grim** for being a great guy to bounce my ideas off of. My two biggest motivations for writing this chapter was knowing Chuck will premiere in three days, and my other motivation would be **Grim.**

You might need to pay close attention to a few of the labels, or you might get a little confused, but it shouldn't be too bad.

Disclaimer: I do not own Chuck or Mac n' Cheese.

* * *

**July 29, 2009**  
**Glendale, California**  
**Castle**  
**4:00 pm**

_Smash!_

A punch was planted into the black punching bag hung from the wall. Why wouldn't they want her help on the mission?

_Bam!_

How many times has she saved their lives? How do they repay her, they leave her behind on a mission.

_Smack!_

Casey and Shaw would make a terrible team anyway! Shaw is precise and thinks his actions through before making any hasty decisions. Casey, on the other hand, likes to shoot things, primarily people, and deal with the consequences of that afterwards. They are total opposites, they'll bring out the worst in each other. The disastrous duo gets to go out on a mission while she's stuck in Castle with Bryce. Great.

_Crash!_ Sparring with her punching bag was the only way she was going to be able to help on the mission at all tonight. She would get as much of her anger out as she could, and then go back to bottling up the her feelings towards her team deep inside her. After the mission, she would go home and tape every member of her teams face on her punching bag. Then she would beat the shit out of them. Sarah would never tell anyone that she does this, but it certainly helped deal with the spy rule of 'bottling up your emotions'.

**Glendale, California**  
**Castle**  
**2 hours ago...**

"Walker, Larkin. Beckman's on in five," Casey belted out from the conference room without looking up from his mission folder.

About four minutes later, Sarah came walking with Bryce close on her heels telling her about a great Italian restaurant he ate at the other night. Sarah wasn't really listening to what he was saying, obvious to everyone except for Bryce, but she would nod her head and say 'yes' or 'mhmm' every once in a while to make him think she was listening. It wasn't that she was purposely being rude to Bryce, she just had a lot more important things on her mind than cheap Italian restaurants. Such as trying for the past week and a half to find their mysterious Charles Carmichael. You'd think it would be easier to find someone that you have video feed of, but they were most definitely up against a professional. One that doesn't like to be messed with.  
Shaw's light shoulder bump sent her flying out of her thoughts. She found herself looking at General Beckman's face lighting up the screen.

"I have a new mission for you Team O Mellor. It's a follow up of the mission you had last week. Last week you attended a dinner party in which the inventor and current owner of a Cryomechnic Equalizer, was supposed to be in attendance. He is a very old fashion man so your next mission should be a breeze. Agent Larkin found out he is holding the Equalizer, Major Casey and Shaw will retrieve it," the General looked down to review her notes. "The William Landry is the owner of the house. It has a standard home security setup that should be easy to get past. He has no security guards and no family. We have confirmed that he will be attending a banquet in San Francisco tonight. He would have had to catch a flight by now, or started driving much earlier today so your mission starts at 1900. The missions plans that the Director is writing up right now will say that your mission is at 2000 hours. We believe that someone has been looking into our reports and want to make sure that your teams will have no problems tonight. While Major Casey and Agent Shaw retrieve the Equalizer, Agents Walker and Larkin will be watching them by live video feed from Castle. Any questions?"

"Ma'am, due to the interference with the Intersect project because of Charles Carmichael, wouldn't it more effective to have us all go in as a team." Sarah stated in her most professional tone.

"If somethings goes wrong, then you and Larkin will go in as reinforcement. I don't find the need to put all of my best agents in the field for such a simple operation." After a brief pause she continued, "All the information you will need is in your mission folders. Casey, Shaw I need to talk to you two before you start getting ready for the mission. Walker, Larkin you're excused."

Bryce immediately headed out of the room, while Sarah briefly hesitated before she too walked out of the room.

"Major Casey and Agent Shaw. You both might be wondering the real reason why I have left Agents Larkin and Walker from the field in this mission. The director and I decided it would be best to leave the two agents out of the field because of mission reports of previous operations. Walker and Larkin have been more trouble than anything else. From both of your mission reports, it seems that the agents constant arguing has become an hindrance. They will be of use if something goes wrong, but because this mission can be carried out without them, we decided to see how smoothly it goes without the rest of your team. Is this a problem for either of you?" Neither of the agents spoke, instead waited for her to continue. "Thank you for your cooperation on this mission. Good luck.

Without waiting for Shaw to say anything, Casey grabbed him by the arm and yanked him out of the conference room to go over their mission.

Sarah was pacing by her desk outside of Castle. Bryce interrupted her constant pacing by saying, "Sarah, make sure to meet me back at Castle by 1830. We need to set up the cameras and make sure the video feed is ready to go." Bryce said this flatly as he did most things these days. She wished she could see a little of the old Bryce every once in a while. The sweet, charming guy she loved to spend time with. He had always had this excited attitude about everything that she never saw anymore either. Now he was cocky, egotistical, boring, but professional. 'The perfect spy', if you like working with a robot. A dull, lifeless robot.

"Yes, Bryce. I'll be back here by 1830."

**Burbank, California  
Bartowski Computer Software Company (BCSC) Office Building**  
**3:45 pm**

"Charles, we have a problem." Chuck's dad said as he bursted into his office.

Pushing away from his desk he swung around to face his father, "What is it?"

"Team O Mellor, the agents working on the Intersect project-"

"Yes..."

"They're farther along than I thought. They're starting to build the new Intersect. There will be small differences, but it's basically the Intersect 2.0."

"What? Dad! How do you know this?"

"They are going on a mission tonight to get a Cryomechnic Equalizer from a scientist by the name of William Landry. He worked with me on the beginning plans for the 2.0. The only reason you need the Equalizer is for an Intersect." His father's voice had risen to almost a yell in his enthusiastic mood.

"Keep your voice down, my secretary's right outside the door," Taking a deep breath, Chuck continued, "What are we supposed to do?" he replied quietly.

"You're going to need to go to Landry's house tonight too and get the Equalizer before they do. The teams mission profile says that they will be going to the scientists house at 2000 tonight. You'll have to arrive about an hour before, to give yourself time. Your mother and I will confirm the locations security situation before you go. We need you to search around to find out where exactly he's hiding the Equalizer."

"Alright, I need to finish up my work here and then I can dig around and find out where the Equalizer is. I will tell my secretary I'm going home early. I'll meet you at the house in about a hour."

"Once you get home you will go over the plan with your mother. Okay?"

"Yeah, Dad, okay." Once again, Chuck finds himself wishing that his dad could visit him at work for reasons other than their spy life. He understood how important this was, but he couldn't help but indulge in self-pity for a few minutes. He has worked extremely hard since he figured out that his parents are spies. He's been training with his mother and father since the age of fifteen, but still doesn't think of himself as a spy. Chuck has so many other things going on in his life that being a spy just seemed completely outrageous. He went to Dartmouth University for computer engineering and opened up his own computer software company. Bartowski Computer Software Company. Chuck decided to name it after his birth name instead of one of the many aliases he had gained over the years. This company was the one thing that made him feel normal again, that made him feel like he belonged. His father wasn't very happy with that choice. Chuck's only real wish was that his father would be proud of his accomplishment. This is what Chuck has wanted since he was little. Sadly, it never seemed to matter, because his father only seemed to be proud of his spy related achievements, never proud of what Chuck really wanted or enjoyed.

**Burbank, California**  
**Bartowski Home**  
**4:45 pm**

Chuck parked his car in the driveway and made his way up to the front door. Taking a deep breath, he entered his house and walked over to the staircase. Without going up them, he went to the fifth step and pulled back a panel of wood. Now faced with a thumb-print scanner, he pushed his left thumb against the small, smooth pad and waited for the green light. Sliding the panel back on, he walked over to the bookcase and pushed it sideways. Chuck never understood why his dad chose such a cliché doorway for their secret base. Sure, you had to get through the thumb-print scanner first, but it was all too predictable. Walking through the doorway, he was faced with another obstacle. He opened his eye and stayed extremely still for the annoying eye scanner. If you were ever in a hurry, you wouldn't be able to get into the base because the obnoxious eye scanner took about half a minute to finish its process and if you flinched at all, then you had to start all over again. After Chuck got passed the scanner, he walked down two flights of stairs. He then faced a room brimming with better technology then the government could ever hope to imagine.

Staring at some of the computers that he built himself, he was dragged away by the strong, yet delicate hands of his mother. "Let's go, Charles. We have our weekly training session. You didn't forget, did you?"

"What? No, I just wasn't sure if we were going to have it with the mission tonight."

"We will, we just have to have it a bit earlier than usual. Go to the locker room to change and I'll meet you in the dojo." With a nod, he left.  
Mary noticed the lack of emotional response that her son always had as an overriding trait of his. She was beginning to feel a distance growing between them and she didn't like it. It seemed that everything he did, he was some how detached from it. The only time he ever acted like himself recently, was when he was playing video games which seemed to happen less and less itself. Chuck has been acting like this for almost a year now. The only thing that she could think of that happened a year ago was...the Intersect 2.0. download. She'd have to talk to Stephen about this, something wasn't right. Chuck's light steps on the mat forced her out of her thoughts.

"Let's get started, shall we?"

* * *

Sitting in the middle of his horseshoe ring of computers, Stephen rolled to one, punched a few keys, and rolled back to another. He was getting all the information Chuck would need for his mission tonight. He already got the blueprints of the house and figured out the Equalizer likely was in a safe on the second floor. Printing it out, he marked where Chuck would enter the building and the path he would take to get to the Equalizer. Now, Stephen was figuring out how much security there was on the building. The NSA/CIA files said that the only security was the basic setup. The house had an alarm system that sent a message to the owners phone and the police if the house is broken into.

This all made sense because Stephen remembered working with William Landry. He remember that Landry was very old fashioned in the way he lived. He assumed that no one was going to break into his house and he never really worried about it. Landry never did much to hide any of his personal belongings either, besides a safe that was easy to break into.

This should be an easy mission for Chuck. He was just about finished up with his plan for tonight when a hand was placed on his shoulder. Looking over his shoulder, he saw his wife looking down at him. "You and Charles are done already? Usually your training lasts at least a couple hours."

"I didn't want to tire him out. He has to be ready for tonight. I did some basic self defense exercises and we worked through what he's supposed to do tonight." Shifting her weight from one foot to the other, Stephen could tell there was something else on her mind.

"What's the matter, Mary?"

Sighing, she decided to tell her husband what was worrying her, "It's Chuck. He's been acting...strangely."

"I don't understand what you're getting at."

"Yes you do, Stephen. Don't tell me you haven't seen how he hasn't been acting like himself. How he is completely detached from everything he does. He doesn't even play his video games anymore! He always played his video games!"

"Maybe he's just growing up. Are you sure you just don't want to let your little boy go?" He made no effort to turn away from his work while saying this.  
Mary started pacing so she could find a way for her husband to understand her. "I think it's the Intersect. I think it's killing his brain. I don't know how and I don't know why, but it's the only thing that makes sense!"

Stephen spun around in his chair and pushed his hands through his hair. "Mary, you're over reacting. I think Chuck's just growing up and finding his way. It's impossible for the Intersect to cause that sort of damage on the brain. It just doesn't come together.-" once he saw her face turn into a scowl he blurted out, "I'm sorry, Mary!"

"You're always sorry! You can barely stop working for five minutes to listen to something I have to say. I'm worried about our son! The only son we have and the only child we see more than three times a year! I am sorry I actually care enough to notice something is wrong and that he's not acting like the Chuck I know. He's goofy. He has always been goofy and it doesn't matter how much spy training I drill into his head, he will always be goofy. This was how it was until you turned him into a fricken computer! Sometimes it's not all about you and your stupid computers! There is more to life than work. You broke our son, and now you _will_ fix him!" She stormed out of the room, leaving behind an extremely surprised Stephen Bartowski.

**Castle**  
**6:00 pm**

Shaw and Casey were prepping for the night's mission. Shaw watched as Casey took out four different firearms. "Are you sure you're going to need all of those? Beckman said that we shouldn't run into anyone at the house."

With a perplexed look on his face, Casey glanced at Shaw, "What are you talking about?"

"You have a few more guns than necessary for an easy get in, get out mission, don't you think?"

Casey's face went back to the scowl that was almost permanently set in his face, "I carry these on me at all times." He went back to cleaning the personal armory he had on his body.

Shaw nodded and took out the one gun that he was currently carrying, "So I'll go in and turn off the alarm system while you keep watch with your...-" he gestured to Casey's weapons laying on the table, "...army."

Casey gave a grunt which Shaw interpreted as a yes. Daniel tried for several more times after that to start a conversation. All attempts failed...miserably. Anything he said was answered with an annoyed grunt. This was the first time he was going on a solo mission with the Major and he was learning some things he didn't know before. One is that Casey likes his guns and he doesn't like it when you touch his guns. Number two is that he likes silence. Uninterrupted silence. Number three would be that he communicates primarily with grunts unless he feels it's necessary to open his mouth for a real answer. After learning these rules, Daniel found it easier to just keep his mouth shut and his thoughts to himself.

**Glendale, California**  
**Sarah's Apartment**  
**6:20 pm**

Sarah was finishing the Easy Mac she made a little while ago. It smelled like heaven in a plastic cup, but looked nowhere near as good as it did in the commercials. She knew she was trying to distract herself with something other than work, but Mac n' Cheese wasn't exactly the greatest distraction. It keeps you occupied for a few minutes, but the cup is so small that you finish it too fast to get any distractions firmly set in place.

She ate the last curved noodle and put the cup aside. Still sitting on her bed, she pulled out her laptop and tucked her legs underneath her so she was in a cross legged position. She started tapping a few keys on her keyboard until her search popped up. She was still trying persistently to find Charles Carmichael. There were no name matches and the facial recognition software has found nothing so far, but she can't give up. This guy must have someone really good working with him if the government had nothing on him. He was probably just using an alias, but she thought his face would at least be in the system. Most criminals faces were. Seeing that there was still no match, she shut her laptop, put on her shoes and walked out the door. Time for the easiest, yet dullest mission she hasn't been on in a while. Sarah couldn't help but think that it seemed all too easy.

**Castle**  
**6:35 pm**

Sarah entered Castle and saw Bryce typing away at the setup of computers. "Bryce, have you gone home since I left?"

Not turning away from his work he said, "Uh, no. I was going to, but I had a lot of work to get done so I decided to stay." When he saw her hand go towards the other computer he continued, "I already set up the computers video feed and got the guy's cameras ready. I figured it would be faster if I just did it all."  
Sighing, she responded, "Do you have anything I can do?"

"No, I'm just going to do it all. That way I know it will be completely accurate."

"Are you saying I'm inaccurate?"

"I didn't say that." Bryce said completely detached from the conversation.

"You implied it. Bryce what's wrong with you? You've been acting so different lately!"

He just shrugged this off and continued with his work. Sarah finally gave up and walked into one of the bedrooms in Castle and plopped down on the bed. She hadn't gotten any decent sleep in a long time and she didn't plan on getting any now. She just needed somewhere to sort her thoughts. Before she knew what was going on she felt a hand shaking her awake.

Sarah shot her arm out and landed a punch to someone's gut.

"What the hell, Walker!"

Sarah opened her eyes and saw Bryce clutching his stomach with his back against the wall. She didn't even realize she had fallen asleep, let alone punch Bryce in the gut. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't even realize-"

"Just get yourself situated and get to the conference room, it's time to do some work." Bryce said rather annoyed and walked out of the room.  
Once she got to the conference room, they put on their headphones and turned toward the monitors.

**Bartowski Home/Secret Base**  
**6:40 pm**

"Son, are you ready to go?" Stephen yelled from the tech room.

Walking into the room of computers, Chuck was putting his tranq-gun inside is waistband, he responded, "Yes, did you finish getting the information?"

"Yes," Looking down at his notes, Chuck's father continued, "You will enter through the garage. You can turn off the alarm system from there just as easily as the front door. This way will look less suspicious and once you get into the garage you will put these...-" Stopping to point at several trackers in his hand, he once again continued his speech, "...on any cars that are in the garage."

"I don't get it, why? We don't need to know where Landry's going; all we need is the Equalizer."

"The trackers aren't to see where he's going. This is just in case you get caught and someone tries to drive away with you. We checked and no one knows of any security guards at the house, but we want to cover all the bases. If you are to be captured and someone tries to drive away with you, your mother and I will know where you are at all times. Here are the blueprints of the house and the way you are going to get the Equalizer. Are you sure you're ready, son?"

"Absolutely."

**Glendale, California**  
**William Landry's House**  
**7:05 pm**

Chuck stepped out of his car and headed toward the house with his briefcase in hand. At the garage door he opened his case and took out his tools. Grabbing his screwdriver, he started taking off the alarms cover. Once he got the cover off, he sliced a few wires and made a few connections. Chuck's familiarization with just about anything electronic paid off and he bypassed the alarm with ease. This was one of the more handy tricks that his father taught him. The alarm was off and he opened the door to the garage. Chuck found one black SUV parked in the garage. The thing he found strange was that the car had a rental agency sticker on the back. He quickly put the tracker under the rear bumper and quietly entered the house.

Chuck was about to head up the stairs when he heard a door shut around the corner. He quickly hid behind a wall to see who was coming. Suddenly, Major Casey and Special Agent Shaw came around the corner looking somewhat relaxed, but still in a complete agent mode. Chuck didn't understand why they were here an hour before they were supposed to. Either they mixed up their times or the mission plans were purposely entered wrong in the system. He was hoping it was the former, but suspected it was the latter.

Chuck went behind an open door behind him and peeked out from it to see when the agents would go by. They started bounding up the stairs on the balls of their feet when four men came out of nowhere with their guns in the air. The agents froze instantly.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Was the first thing that came out of the mouth of a bald man with a thick Russian accent.

*When Casey and Shaw didn't answer, the Russian started talking to his men in their native language, "za vyaa zee vats e tee lyoo dee ee bra sawk James Bonds in ma shin a."

"da" The three thugs all said at once.

The bald man started huffing out laughs and kept his gun pointed at the agents while his men tied them up. After the bald man stopped laughing, he grabbed the identical glasses that both agents were wearing and chucked them at the wall.

Chuck understood every word the men said since he spent about two years in Moskva, Russia. The men disappeared behind the garage door and Chuck started to speak into his watch, "Dad, did you hear all of that?"

_Yes, son. The tracker you put on the car is moving so they must be heading out. I want you to go up, get the Equalizer and then get out. Understand?_

"What about the agents? You can't just let them get tortured."

_I can, and I will. We will. Charles, I understand you want to save everyone, but you can't. These are trained spies. They know what they're getting into when they join the agency. Let the government take care of it. _

"What are you talking about? It will take forever for their team to find them. Those thugs are using a rental car that the government doesn't know two of their agents are in. We know where they're going! We can help!"

_No, Charles. We're not going to help this time. Sometimes you have to do things for yourself and not for the greater good._

"Can you stop thinking about yourself for more than one minute? I didn't break into this house for myself! I did it for you! Because you told me to! This has never been about me and it never is about me. Can you do one thing I ask. Just once?"

_No._

After that single word, Chuck heard his ear piece go completely silent and he knew that his dad had turned it off. He went over to the glasses that the Russian threw against the wall. Observing them, he saw a small camera in the right hand corner. After looking at them for several more moments, and finding no excessive damage, he pointed the camera towards his face and said one thing, "Your two agents just got captured by the houses Russian security detail. If you come to the house, I can help you find them. If not, Agents Shaw and Casey will probably die."

He threw the glasses on the floor much like the Russian and then made his way up the stairs.

**Castle**  
**7:35 pm**

Sarah watched as a very familiar face light up the screen. A face she has been searching for constantly over the past two weeks. Now she has the chance to meet up with said face, and she's not certain she should. "Bryce, did you see that?"

"Yes."

"And..."

"Let's go."

"That's it? 'Let's go'. Aren't you a little worried this is a setup? What if we get trapped because we didn't think this through?"

"And what if we do think this through and Casey and Shaw die? I'm going to that house with or without you, Sarah."

This was one of the occasions she saw the old Bryce again. His moods were so erratic lately, that she didn't know which Bryce she would encounter. She wasn't going to lose two agents and miss out on working with the old Bryce again. Grabbing her gun and the car keys, she bolted up the steps without looking back.

**William Landry's House**  
**7:50 pm**

Chuck pulled back the curtain and looked out the window and found Agents Walker and Larkin getting out of their car. They headed towards the front door with guns in hand. Larkin twisted the doorknob and pushed the door open, him and Walker flat against the wall signaling each other to go in.

Both agents came in with the barrels of their guns pointed directly at Chuck. "Put your weapons on the ground, slowly." Sarah said in a completely agent manner.

Chuck took his tranq-gun out of his waistband and holding it gingerly with two fingers, placed it on the ground. "Happy?"

"Is that it?" Bryce snapped, barely letting Chuck finished his statement.

"Yes"

"Slide it over here" Ordered Sarah.

Chuck did as he was told and Bryce inspected the weapon. "It's only a tranq-gun" Bryce said to Sarah in a questioning tone.

"I can see that." Chuck interrupted with sarcasm dripping from his voice.

Both agents ignored the outburst. Bryce nodded his head towards Chuck and Sarah understood. She put her favorite 9 mm Smith & Wesson into the back of her waistband, and took her handcuffs out of her pocket.

"Handcuffs? Kinky." Chuck said in his still very sarcastic tone.

Sarah aggressively grabbed his left wrist and snapped it into the cuff, "Pretty confident for a guy that's not armed."

"I was stuck between being a baby and confident. I was a baby last time because of the whole gunshot in the shoulder thing. So, I thought I'd show a little courage this time around."

This made Sarah smile, but she was quick to hide it. Chuck plastered his big goofy grin on his face and she knew that he caught her. She was a bit more gentle with the second cuff, but not gentle enough that he would think she was getting soft. Sarah started patting down his torso and arms to check for any sort of weapon. Bryce had his gun still pointed at Chuck, in case he tried to do something tricky. Once Sarah started patting down Chucks legs, starting with the thighs, his grin smacked right back onto his face.

Bryce seeing the enjoyment Chuck was getting out of this, cleared his throat, "Walker, I think that's enough. He's clean."

Sarah stood up and started backing up, making no move to remove his handcuffs. "Why were you here?" She shot out at him.

"Why was your team here?" Chuck shot right back.

Bryce spoke before Sarah could, "That's not how this works. You don't ask the questions, we do."

"Do you want to find your partners?"

Both of them nodded, waiting for him to continue.

"Then you both will listen to me."

Bryce was about to interject, but Chuck immediately stopped him, "You need me, not the other way around. You both need to trust me, or this isn't going to work."

"Why would we trust you?" Sarah barked.

"Because I'm the only guy willing to help." The sincerity in Chucks voice was impossible to miss. Sarah gulped and wondered why she actually wanted to trust this guy.

"Fine, then show us what you have." Bryce said.

"To do that, I'm going to need my laptop from my car, which would entail you un-cuffing me." Chuck turned so his back was pointing towards them, and wiggled his hands.

"That's not going to happen." Superiority was obvious in his voice.

"Okay then, see you later." Chuck started to walk out of the room. Sarah grabbed the chain attaching his handcuffs and yanked. He yelped and stumbled backward knocking her down with him. He landed right on top of her and started laughing. Sarah was wriggling underneath him and Bryce wasn't really sure what he should do, no one was in danger, but the situation was very odd. After several moments of this confusion, Sarah finally pushed Chuck off of her and grumbled without much authority in her voice, "Get up!"

"I'm pretty comfy here," Chuck said still chuckling.

Sarah got up, dusted off her pants, and pulled him up too. She sighed and was thought about what she was going to do for a few seconds. "Bryce, I'll bring Chuck out to his car to get his laptop. You check the house to make sure it's clear of anyone and then set up a table for us to work at." Bryce nodded and went to check the house with gun in hand. Sarah grabbed Chuck by the elbow and led him out of the house. "Where's your car?"

"Right down the block," He said and nodded his head towards the direction of his car.

"Let's go," They walked in silence for a few minutes until Sarah broke it, "Why are you doing this?"

He was silent for a moment and she thought he wasn't going to answer her question, "I don't know."

After another pause, she questioned him again, "Why were you here?"

"You already know that. You're not a stupid girl."

"You're here for the same reason our team was." She knew that he must know something about the Intersect, but she had no idea how, or how much. How could someone that wasn't on this project know about the Intersect? It seemed like a completely crazy thing if you didn't have proof that it worked. She didn't know who he was, how he knew about the Intersect, or why he was helping them.

"Sarah?" This startled her out of her thoughts and she jumped.

A little jittery now, she responded, "Yes?"

"Can you take these handcuffs off me now? They're really starting to hurt." Chuck asked, hoping for her to comply.

"Sorry, Chuck, but did you really think I'd trust you that easily? All you've done is volunteer to help us, and I still haven't figured out what's in it for you."

"Nothing. It's just what I want to do."

"You _want_ to help us? What about when you were breaking in to our base? Did you want to help us then?" Sarah said questioningly.

"No. That was just something I was told to do"

"By who?" She prodded.

"You're ruining the moment by trying to weasel things out of me." Chuck said with a small laugh.

"Sorry, it's my job." She was starting to wonder if her job was the same one she signed up for in the beginning.

"This means you're going to keep me in these cuffs the whole time. You do understand that I can't exactly use my laptop with my hands tied behind my back."

Sighing, Sarah stopped and thought about that for a moment. She motioned for him to turn around. As she was unlocking the cuffs she said, "If you run, I have to shoot you and if you try anything funny with me-..." She paused to jingle handcuffs in front of his face, "...you're going back in the cuffs."

"Yes ma'am!" He said, giving her a mock salute.

"This doesn't mean I automatically trust you, so don't abuse your privilege."

"I'd think you would trust me."

Sarah started laughing, "And why is that?"

"For starters, I'm going to find the coordinates of the tracker I put on the Russians car. Your team just happens to be in that car, so there's a benefit for you. Also, you didn't wake up dead in your base about a week ago." This was the last thing said for the rest of the trip to the car. Chuck grabbed his laptop and they walked back to the house.

* * *

A/N: Hope you enjoyed. Please review so I know how you like it and what to improve on!


	4. Change of Heart

A/N: sorry for those of you that had to read the last, very jumbled up spaces in this, I hope this is better. Thanks to Gladius Grim for all his help and I hope you enjoyed this chapter because I really loved writing it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck.

* * *

**July 29, 2009**

**Glendale California**

**William Landry's House**

**8:30 pm**

One step, two steps, three steps...twenty five steps, twenty six steps. Sarah wasn't sure how to make conversation with a man that she was going to put in a cell for the greater majority of a decade or two, depending on how much he knows and if he decides to talk. Thirty five steps, thirty six steps-

Chuck broke Sarah out of her time consuming step counting. "Why weren't you and you're partner in the house, too?"

It took her a second to get completely out of her faze and comprehend what question was being directed at her. "Gener- our boss claimed that it was an 'easy mission'-" Sarah made quotation gestures to emphasize the fact that she didn't believe a word that the General had said. "-obviously there was nothing _easy_ about it."

"Yeah, tell me about it."

* * *

Walking into the house, they saw the table that Bryce had set up in the middle of the living room with three chairs around it. Chuck made his way towards the middle seat, placing his laptop on the table. Turning it on he started punching keys quickly as Bryce and Sarah tried to follow what Chuck was doing, but both were lost after about half a minute of work.

"What are you doing?" Snapped Bryce.

"Your job." Chuck replied curtly.

That remark kept everyone silent for a few moments until Sarah decided it was time to figure out exactly what he was trying to do. "Chuck, talk to me. How can we help?"

"I could really use a water."

Bryce shot him a deadly glare that made Chuck's insides curdle. "You know what? I'm really not all that thirsty"

"Didn't think so. Now what are you doing?"

Sighing Chuck started explaining his process for finding the rest of Team O Mellor. "I am enabling a tracking system on my laptop." He turned to face them a moment with a knowing smile before turning back to the screen. "I put a global positioning system tracker on the bottom of the car. Using this-" He pointed to a gadget plugged into the side of his computer. "-I can track the location of the car's GPS co-ordinates. Then using this-" Chuck pulled a small, high-tech GPS out of his jacket pocket and laid it next to his laptop. "-I'll find the tracker's latitude and longitude co-ordinates. Then we go and attack the big, bad Russians and you get your guys back. Mission complete."

"Do you want any help with anything?" Sarah responded after he finished his explanation.

"You guys should probably check in with your boss, right?"

Sarah shot a look at Bryce, asking him that same question silently. Bryce understood and nodded his head. "Walker, make the call and I'll be sure our boy here doesn't track the call."

When she left the room, so did any noise. Besides Chuck's fingers tapping on the keyboard and Bryce's steady breathing, the room was uncomfortably silent. Chuck continued his work with ease while his guard stood awkwardly over his shoulder.

"Do you mind not hovering?"

This was answered by Bryce who took one small step backwards.

_Much better_, Chuck thought sarcastically.

Bryce continued to hover over Chuck to make sure he was doing what he said he was, and not something that could get him and Agent Walker both in trouble. Even though he was watching the screen, Bryce didn't have a clue what the mysterious man was doing. Moments later, his mind started to wander and drifted into the oblivion that was his own thoughts. Drug dealers, terrorists, murderers, arms dealers? His thoughts weren't even controllable anymore, the Intersect was taking over every inch of his brain and it was getting almost impossible to handle. Bryce wanted to tell someone about it, but was afraid of what would happen if his mind couldn't be fixed. Would they put him in an insane asylum? An underground bunker? Would they kill him? He didn't want to take the chance of losing his perfect job and all the opportunities he was getting because of his brain.

On the downside, his relationship with Sarah was obliterated. She wasn't just some girl he had slept with. Sarah was unique, not only was she someone he could once talk to, but she had always been willing to listen. Whenever he was with her, a smile seemed to be permanently painted on his face. Her eyes were such a beautiful shade of blue, were always able to hold his gaze. Sarah's smile could light up a room. Bryce's relationship with Sarah had been so perfect, and wonderful, and exactly what he wanted, but the Intersect had ruined that. Bryce started to think back on all the different interactions he had with Sarah since he had gotten the annoyance downloaded into his brain. Thinking back on it, he had noticed how much of a jerk he had become to her. Curt responses and complete cold unforgiving professionalism. That might have seemed like a good idea in, but in retrospect, Bryce imagined it would have been as if she watched her boyfriend, partner, and friend slowly disappeared right before her eyes. Like breathing on a cold car window, watching the fog disappear water droplet by little tiny water droplet. He needed to find a way to fix this, if it meant focusing extra when he was with Sarah, then that's what he had to do.

Sarah walked in with her cellphone in hand and a scowl on her face. Chuck didn't bother to even look up from his monitor, instead he continued working. Bryce, on the other hand, recalled his previous thoughts, _...focusing extra when he was with Sarah..._, and tried to push past the different Intersect images clouding his thoughts long enough to come up with a decent response to her scowl.

"What happened?" He mentally slapped himself. _Smooth, real smooth._

"Beckman's normal sour mood reached an all time high. She was so angry that she sent another nearby team to come and take over. She has all of her best men working to find Shaw and Casey." Attitude coated her tone. She didn't even realize her slip-up of stating the General's name, but it didn't seem like Chuck noticed either. Sarah continued her tirade, "Due to you and Agent Larkin interfering with the mission, I am forced to send another team to fix your current predicament." Sarah mocked the General, not noticing how her voice started taking on the lilt of a fourteen year old girl.

Bryce, trying to be his old self again took a few seconds to think of a good response. "Once Chuck finds the location of Shaw and Casey, then we'll go get them."

Sarah stared at Bryce for a few questioning moments, "What are you saying Bryce?"

"We're going to get our team. I don't care what Beckman thinks of us, I'm not letting another team take over from here when we've done all the work-" The sudden clearing of a throat broke Bryce's speech. "When we did all the work with-. What do we call you?" Bryce directed the question to Chuck.

"An Expert Civilian Consultant." Chuck flashed Sarah a goofy smile. "Has a nice ring to it, right?"

Sarah let a small smile reach the surface with a barely audible giggle. Bryce's head snapped towards her so fast he thought he had gotten whiplash. Since when did Sarah Walker giggle? She never giggled with him, why would she giggle with this criminal? A sudden wave of jealousy coursed through his veins and Bryce became very rude with their Expert Civilian Consultant.

"Are you almost done? We really need to start moving." Bryce shot out with overwhelming need to express a dominant attitude.

"Yes, one more minute. Ah, here we go." Chuck said as he picked up his home-made GPS tracking system and started plugging in the co-ordinates. "Bingo! Let's go, shall we?" He started picking up his different possessions and carried them awkwardly out of the door.

Bryce, irritated that Chuck didn't take any notice to his change in attitude, pulled Chuck back when he attempted to slide into the driver's seat. "I don't think so." He said in an overtly superior tone. Bryce pointed with his thumb behind him to the backseat.

Chuck gave a small laugh and said flatly, "You're kidding me? I'm not sitting in the back, I thought we'd already went over the whole, 'you need me' and 'I did all the work' situation. And now you're making me sit in the back. Like a child. Alone." The last few statements were spaced out, waiting for someone to take the bait and let him sit in one of the front seats. It worked.

"We're wasting time. Chuck, I'll sit in the back with you if it will get us all moving." Sarah said hurriedly, trying to move before Beckman's other team shows up.

Chuck contemplated this for a few seconds and decided that sitting with someone was better than sitting alone. "Sounds good, let's go." He opened the back-seat door and slid into the car.

"Don't you want to sit in the front? I'm going to need your help with the directions." Said Bryce with a pleading look in his deep blue eyes.

"Bryce, let's just go. You have always been completely capable of doing tasks on your own. Not to mention there's a GPS in the car that says the directions in that robotic James Bond voice."

"I thought you liked Connery."

"I do. What I don't like is his robot twin, which seems to be programmed into your car." Sarah said as she started to walk to the opposite side of the car.

"Why are you so nice to that _criminal?_" Bryce mumbled, and managed to spit out the last word with as much disgust as possible. He knew Sarah had heard him because she froze in place for a second, but then chose to ignore the comment and entered the car next to Chuck.

* * *

_Clink, clink. Rattle, rattle. Clink, clink. Rattle, rattle._

Flesh was being worn away by the unbearable pressure of rusty, metal chains dangling three hostages from beams fifteen-feet high. The chill of the night was growing as time inched by. The barn kept most of the heat circulating time and time again from roof to floor. The length of the chains gave five feet of space from the beams lining the barn's ceiling. Including the men's height, the three hostages' feet were approximately four feet from the ground.

Casey was stone still in his chains while Shaw was constantly wiggling, trying to break loose of the shackles suspending him into the open, sweltering air. There was a third man bounded by an identical iron chain, but this captive wasn't moving, nor did he appear to be breathing.

Over the past half-hour, the two newest prisoners have been beaten like a piñata with metal rods, hammered by stones both large and small, while aggressively being questioned about the Cryomechnic Equalizer.

The Russians had stripped the men of all clothing except for their boxers. Both Shaw and Casey had cuts and gashes from the different torture devices. Blood coated their only article of clothing and the bruises covered the rest of their bodies. Horrendous blotchy bruises were forming on every inch of their body, some bigger, darker, and deeper than others.

A thick, deep Russian accent came from the mouth of a short, stout, bald man. "What do you know about the Equalizer?" When no answer was forthcoming from either man the Russian picked up an iron rod, swatted air a few times testing its weight, and finally swung a sharp, hard blow to the side of Shaw's torso. The impact was dangerously close to a kidney, which could cause him permanent damage.

"Who do you work for?" The same Russian voice yelled at the men. Another question went unanswered and this time Casey got a punishing swing to one of his shins. Once the metal made contact with bone, an instant crackling and snapping sound occurred and John Casey growled in pain.

The torturer was about to ask, yet another question when he heard a far too familiar clicking noise at the base of his skull. "Put it down." A blonde holding a .40 caliber Sig Sauer ordered sternly to the Russian. He however, didn't comply and decide to attempt a swing at Sarah with the metal bar. Chuck came out of nowhere and had one hand grasped firmly on the bar, while his opposite foot slammed directly to the center of the man's face. As his second hand gripped the rod, Chuck swung it low, sweeping the bald-man's legs from under him. Chuck's boot was instantly pressing down on the Russian's throat, stunning him into immobility for the moment.

Chuck spoke slowly and clearly, "You are going to turn onto your stomach slowly and silently or I will force you onto your stomach. Understood?"

The Russian attempted a nod and then complied with Chuck's request. Sarah just stood there completely dumbstruck. It wasn't often Sarah Walker was caught off guard, but she had thought Chuck had left with Bryce to catch the rest of the Russians, but instead he had popped up out of nowhere and had taken a guy down in a matter of a few seconds. This, she reflected, was to be expected, since this was one of the only people that had ever managed to take her down without much of a struggle. Instead of just standing uselessly, Sarah grasped the handcuffs lying in her pocket and quickly fastened them on the bald man's wrist.

After they had secured the leader, Sarah called Beckman while Chuck and Bryce lowered Casey and Shaw then removed their chains. The general quickly sent a government medevac unit to the barn along with another team. The other team had originally been sent out to take over the rescue were now tasked in, helping to secure the scene and transport the Russian's to a government holding facility.

Once the teams arrived to help Casey and Shaw, Sarah found herself not needed for assistance. She soon found her way outside and started pacing around trying to get the image of half her team hanging grotesquely in the barn out of her mind. Her brooding was broken when a tall man with curly-brown hair stood in her path.

"Are you okay?" Chuck asked Sarah, his warm brown eyes looking deeply into her soft cerulean blue eyes to find the answer.

"Yeah," She said sounding completely unsure of her answer. After a few moments of deep thought she continued in a more reassuring tone, "Yes, I'm fine. My team's still alive because of you."

"You had your moments too. I wasn't the only one who saved them. I think they owe _you _their lives as well." Chuck told her as he started walking towards the side of the barn away from the commotion and more importantly, all the other agents.

Sarah followed him and whispered, "Did you see them?"

"Yes." He looked at her, and noticed the tinge of her skin as it turned a shade of green.

"That was because of me. If me and Bryce had worked better together, and could have gone on the mission with them, maybe this wouldn't have happened, and we could have gotten the Equalizer without a problem-" Sarah's rambling was cut off by an abrupt exclamation.

"No! This was not your fault, remember that." Chuck said as he pushed gently on Sarah's shoulders, forcing her to sit on a small gray stone wall running parallel with the barn. Sitting next to her, Chuck continued to talk, "If you all had gone on that mission tonight, then you would have all been captured and now be hanging shackled to chains. Then all of you would have been killed, and no one would have been there to save you and your team. If you think I would have had the power to save you all alone, then you're wrong."

"They were so bloody and lifeless." Sarah was starting to go into shock and continued to blame herself for the image she saw of Shaw and Casey dangling from the barn ceiling.

"I know." He whispered, and saw a tear start to form in the corners of her eyes.

"I'm sorry. Why am I doing this?" She said more to herself than to the man sitting beside her.

Suddenly, a tear broke free racing down her cheek as her emotional barrier was unconsciously crumbled. Chuck saw the innocent side of Sarah Walker after only his second encounter with her. He supposed this was because it was easier to become vulnerable around a person you might never see again. Chuck instinctively wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her close against him. "Shh, shh, it's okay. Every thing's okay now. Shh, you're fine, everyone is fine." He used the ageless calming technique and started rocking her slowly back and forth. While rubbing his hand back and forth over her arm, Chuck continued to calm her down. Sarah burrowed into his chest and sobbed softly. Chuck took his free arm and enclosed her in a non-ending sheltering hug.

Once the crying had slowed to a soft bout of hiccuping, he removed one of his arms that had been wrapped around her. Chuck still had his arm around her shoulder, rubbing her free arm. They sat in silence for what could have been as little as two minutes or as long as an hour; time had no meaning at that moment. Chuck watched the sky and saw the different stars appear throughout the infinite blackness. The sky faded from a jet black to a dark navy blue. The mountains in the distance sat against the blue of the sky and acted as a border from the rest of the world.

Sarah lifted her hand to wipe the tears off her cheeks and that's when she realized what she had just done. A sudden anger filled her mind and she was quick to set everything straight, "I'm not weak! Just because this happened doesn't mean I'm bad at my job, or that I can't handle myself. Everything in that barn was all part of the job, and just because it affected me doesn't mean that I can't do my job."

Chuck immediately turned his head towards her and stared directly into her eyes. "I never thought you were weak. I know you can do your job, and this just proves that you're still human. Crying doesn't mean you're weak, it actually means you are strong."

Sarah didn't say anything; all she needed to do was look into his deep brown eyes. A moment later, she looked away and visibly shivered. This is when Chuck realized how chilly the night had grown, and that she wasn't wearing anything besides a short-sleeved blouse. He immediately slid off his black jacket and slipped it over her shoulders.

"Thanks." she said and gave him a small smile. It was as if she was getting a crush on this man that she would never have a relationship with. It's just like when a teenager falls in love with a celebrity that they will never meet.

Now that his jacket was off, blood seeping through his white, cotton shirt became visible. As if it was a drop of red dye slowly expanding in a glass of milk.

"Chuck, you're bleeding."

He touched his now bleeding shoulder and stared at the blood on his fingers with surprise. "I-" He stopped, unsure of what to say.

Sarah stood up and lightly tugged on his arm, "Come on, we'll go have the paramedics check you out."

"No, it's fine. I'm pretty sure it would probably be a bad idea to have some government doctors examine a guy on the run from the same government."

"That looks bad. At least let me take a look at it." She said as she tugged quickly upwards on his shirt.

Chuck flinched away, "No, I'm good. Do you remember what happened last time you 'took a look at it'? That didn't end so well with me. I think I'd rather lose a little blood."

Sarah ignored him as she finished lifting up his shirt over his head. After little examination, she noticed that it was bleeding from his previous bullet wound that was oozing down his chest. It had only been about two weeks since she stitched it up for him, and the wound would take a month at the very least to heal through. "You re-opened your cut and it's not going to just go away unless you let it heal."

"I will, once I get out of here."

"I didn't think you were coming with us."

"You seemed to think it when you were handcuffing me earlier."

"But I knew it wouldn't last. There's something too slick about you. People like you don't just get caught, there's always a twist to things." Sarah said as she applied pressure to his wound with his already bloodied shirt.

Chuck winced at the pain, but once he remembered how bad it was the first day, he decided to let this go. Sarah continued when Chuck didn't add anything, "After today, the least I can do for you is stitch your wound, again. I'll be right back." She started to move away, walking backwards half the time to make sure he didn't go anywhere. Grabbing one of the paramedic's emergency kits, she walked back to the stone wall that they were sitting on. "I can't give you anything to numb this."

"Why?"

"You need to be able to get home without passing out or hallucinating. I think you can live through a few stitches, it won't be as bad as last time."

"You promise?" Chuck looked at her with playful eyes.

"Promise." Sarah whispered and started closing up his cut. She did this with the precision of an experienced doctor, confident and steady. Chuck winced many times during the process, but whenever his eyes met hers, it seemed as though all his pain went away for that moment. He knew this sounded so clichéd, but there was something about her that was so beautiful, and not just her looks. There was something that made her different from everyone else. That something made her an excellent spy, yet not the way it was with any other spy he had met. Chuck knew that this was one woman that he wouldn't soon forget.

Sarah finished his stitching shortly after she started and started wiping the wet and dry blood from his chest. Looking up she made sure to make eye contact with Chuck every few moments.

She finished her job and they both stood up. "Thank you." He said.

"I owe you that much. But thank you, for helping me and my team. I don't understand why you did it, but thank you."

"You understand." Again, he stared into her ocean-blue eyes until she looked down nervously. What was with him making her act like a fourteen year old girl? She'd never been shy with men before, they were always the ones that would back down to her. Maybe that was the problem here, he was started to play her role. He was forcing her to be the innocent one in the relationship. But when did they start a relationship? They don't have a relationship. All he did was help her save her team. Other than that, he was just another criminal she was devoted to catch. But that wasn't it, there is more to him. He was so mysterious, yet so trustworthy. Sarah didn't know what to think; besides he was seemingly still one of the most complicated men she had ever met.

"You're different, Sarah Walker." Chuck said his last words to her before he hopped over the short stone wall and headed off deeper into the field. Sarah stood there watching him until he was out of sight. Turning around, she felt his warm jacket that was still pulled onto her shoulders, except sometime during her miniature surgery, it had slipped its way over her arms as well. Snuggling deeper into the jacket, she walked away from the fence and back towards the rest of her world.

Chuck, well out of distance from the barn, was rubbing his arms alternately, he was freezing. Realized that he had left his jacket with the girl, his eyes widened. He started growing frantic, thinking he had left it in the pocket of his jacket. It was when he reached into one of his pants pocket that he found the Equalizer, tucked safe and sound. Sighing in relief, today, Chuck thought, had been his lucky day.


	5. Conflicts

A/N: This is a little bit shorter chapter, more of a transition chapter. HUGE thanks to GladiusGrim who manages to listen to my ranting and fix some of my..interesting *cough* bad word choice. Hahaha, but he actually helps me out a whole lot with this story, so thanks. Anyway, I hope you like the new chapter and drop a review or a message if you want to ask any questions or give any suggestions.

Disclaimer: I do not and shall not own Chuck.

* * *

August 4, 2009

Glendale California

Bryce's Apartment

1:47 am

Head throbbing, pulse racing, blood churning. His hand flew out and smashed into the lamp, trying to find some source of light. Bryce's unpredictable limb movements were jerking and twitching him every few seconds. His hand was sliced in several places from the broken light bulb he sent flying into the wall. Sweat dripped down his head as he fought the constant urge to throw up. Sitting against the cool wooden head-board of his bed, Bryce was unable to control the flickering of images being burned harshly into his brain. Clutching his head as Bryce tried to compress the pain the images were inflicting mentally and physically. Blood seeping from his hand was soon smeared across his forehead mixing with the sweat dripping into his eyes. Suddenly, his body shook with uncontrollable convulsions as the pain and the images began to overwhelm his mind. After several moments, Bryce tumbled off his bed, his head striking the night stand. The rest of the night was still and quiet.

* * *

Last week...

"Agent Walker, you've just lost us our biggest opportunity. We could have had Charles Carmichael in custody and under interrogation at this exact moment, if you had actually brought him in. You were completely unprofessional and that is why you are suspended until further notice." Sarah stood, years of experience masking the scowl threatening to appear. "You may exit the premises now." Sarah nodded her head slightly and stalked out of the room in a coolly professional, yet awkward and uncomfortable as this had never happen to her before.

The General waited for Sarah to leave the room before continuing to talk to Bryce, "Agent Larkin, I understand you believed that Agent Walker and you had the situation of locating your partners, in hand. That might be so, but it does _not_ change the fact that you will obey an order when instructed! Understand?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Good, now you will be monitoring the search for Charles Carmichael. Since you…" She seemed to spit out her next words in disgust, "…worked together, and then you should have no problem in finding him. I need you to find this man, bring him in, and do it before anything else goes wrong."

"Yes ma'am. If I may, how are Casey and Shaw doing?"

"They will be fine. Both had to get surgery because of the damage to some of their organs. The doctors say they should recover fully in a month and a half, two at the very most."

A smile crept onto Bryce's face and he finished, "Good." He watched the General's face flicked off the screen and he couldn't help but think that the choice Sarah and he had made was the right one.

* * *

Chuck had been driving around seemingly in circles for the past hour. He would have continued to do so for another hour if he hadn't just about fallen asleep at the wheel. Not able to go home for the fear of having a long, drawn out argument with one of his parents, he opted to stay in a hotel for the night. Once he found a hotel, he checked in under his real name, and went up to room number 327. Fumbling with the card key that took at least four times to get to work properly, Chuck walked into his room carrying a small briefcase. Laying it down on the bed, he flopped down next to it, and stared up at the ceiling. Arms spread out languidly in either direction, his feet dangling off the side of the bed. Chuck closed his eyes, sighed, and was suddenly overwhelmed with the stench of blood and stagnant sweat. His once clean white shirt was smeared and soaked with dirt, blood, and sweat.. Chuck sat up on the bed regretfully and slowly opening his eyes; all he really wanted to do was sleep. Pulling his shirt over his head Chuck threw it down into the corner of the room. Stumbling slightly, he made his way to the bathroom, stripping out of his pants. Chuck looked at his reflection in the mirror bringing his hand up to his face. Rough stubble had formed on his face over the past several days somewhat altering his appearance slightly making him look older and tougher. Dragging his hand through his hair he noticed it had gotten rather long. He flashed himself a big smile in the mirror and then dropped it quickly. He didn't know why, but that smile rarely showed up any more. It was almost to the point where he was uncomfortable with his goofy grin. Sighing he shrugged it off and turned the shower on the hottest temperature he could stand. Chuck shed the rest of his clothing before jumping into a steaming and soothing escape.

* * *

Sarah strolled into the lobby of her hotel building. All the employees refrained from giving any form of greeting to her because of the deadly scowl on her face. Stalking to the elevator Sarah aggressively pressed her floor number with an audible click. She felt the jolt of the elevator and tried to calm herself down before she had a violent breakdown. Forging ahead to her hotel room, number 329; Bryce's hotel room number 328 was the one across the hall from hers. The door was slammed behind her and she purposely headed straight towards her closet. She quickly changed into a sports bra and a pair of shorts. Sarah grabbed her sparring gloves for the punching bag after putting her hair up into a messy bun.

Her punching bag hung awaiting a brutal beating. Sarah had earlier printed out a picture of her favorite boss and duct taped the face to the top third of the bag. Moments later she had obliterated the picture, one savage punch at a time.

* * *

Alone in Castle, Bryce clutched his throbbing aching head. He didn't think his brain could continue to handle much more of the Intersect. It was causing him the fiercest pain he's ever felt in his life. The worst part is that no one could help him; he couldn't tell anyone what was happening. He wanted so bad to tell Sarah about the problems with the Intersect, but he wasn't sure how she help him to handle it. The last person he wanted to actually find out about it was Beckman. Bryce didn't want to know what she would do to him if Beckman even suspected the Intersect was malfunctioning.

As if on cue, the General's face appeared without notice on the screen. "Agent Larkin, are you having a problem with something?" She asked in a cold uncaring tone.

Bryce immediately dropped his hands from his head and said, "No, ma'am. Just a small headache is all. Is anything wrong?"

"Sources tell us that there are security disks in the house that Agents Casey and Shaw had to enter the other night. This could be our biggest lead in finding Carmichael. I need you to enter the house and retrieve those disks tonight."

"General, will Agent Walker be assisting with this mission?"

It took her a few moments before answering, "Yes. I don't need another incident. I will contact Agent Walker and send her to the Castle immediately. I do _not_ want her to be too involved with finding Charles Carmichael. It seems she's formed a sort of friendship with him, and I will not let this criminal slip through our fingers again. Understood?"

"Absolutely, General."

* * *

"Stephen, where do you think he is?" Mary asked while pacing back and forth inside their base.

"I don't know, but he'll be fine." Stephen answered unconcerned.

"What do you mean, he'll be fine? He asked for your help on that mission and you said no! Maybe you should have thought of the consequences to that! You are always asking Chuck to do things for you, and then you can't do this one thing for him?" Mary's temper was increasing as was the heat in her cheeks the more she continued.

"Don't you remember that our son was trying to help out a couple of spies? Spies, that belong to the same government that ruined our lives!" Stephen growled back.

"Ruined? Is our life really that terrible?" She calmed down and had a more concerned tone to her voice now.

"You know what I mean, Mary." He sighed.

"No, I don't. Enlighten me." Her voice coated with sarcasm and annoyance as she turned to glare at him.

"We didn't exactly have the picture-perfect family. I didn't mean anything by what I said; it's just that sometimes I wish that things could have turned out differently." He pushed himself from his chair and rested his hands on Mary's shoulders.

She sighed, getting herself out of argument-mode. "Like not having our son become wanted by the government? Having Ellie in our lives? Not having to live under a different alias whenever we move to a different place?"

He pulled her into a tight hug, "You need to remember one thing, we're a family and we'll always be a family. And that's good enough for me."

* * *

Once Chuck got out of the shower, he found he had three missed calls from his mother. Debating on whether he should call her back, or enjoy his time alone, Chuck decided to make one call. He snatched his cellphone up from the bed and called his mom. She picked up on the first ring.

"Chuck! Are you okay? Where are y-"

Chuck cut off her questions, "I'm fine, mom, it's okay. I'm just staying in a hotel for the night. I just need some time to myself.

"Time to yourself?" She said each syllable as if they were their own words. In complete disbelief, she continued, "You kept me worrying about you for hours, so you could have some time to yourself?"

"I'm sorry and I'll be back tomorrow. Sometimes I just need my space." Chuck said, trying to calm her down.

Sighing, she said, "Fine," After a brief pause, she decided to add, "I love you."

"I love you, too." He hung up the phone and tossed it on the bed. He got rid of his robe and slipped on a pair of boxers to sleep in. Chuck threw his suitcase onto the floor and placed his phone on the nightstand. Once he lied down on the bed, exhaustion quickly kicked in and he was soon sound asleep.

* * *

Bryce parked the car close by the house they were about to break into. Sarah had been silent during the entire trip, except for an occasional grumble of illegible words.

"Sarah, I know you're mad at the general, but we both need to stay focused right now." Bryce broke the silence trying to find something to draw out how she was feeling.

"I'm not angry at anyone, and I am completely capable of doing my job under any circumstances." Sarah said waspishly with a snap in her tone.

As he watched her walk away, he mumbled, "I can take a hint, someone's not in the mood."

Instead of entering through the front door, they moved around stealthfully to the back of the house and a moment later Sarah had started to pick the lock. Once she got the door opened, they entered the house with guns raised and at the ready. They didn't expect to find anyone inside, but after what happened last time, it was better to be safe than sorry.

Sarah whispered, "I'll check upstairs for the security room, Bryce, search this floor." Bryce responded with a small curt nod and soon they went their separate ways. Sarah bounded quietly up the stairs, keeping all her senses alert. Taking a right at the top of the staircase Sarah headed towards the first door she spied. Moving slow and steady towards the door, she used her empty hand to grasp the doorknob, slowly turning it. With a gentle push, she entered the room with her pistol held ready. When she found a made-up bed and a big screen television, she turned and exited the room.

Bryce had been a little less cautious than his partner. He let his pistol hang down by his side and lazily open doors. He had figured they had already caught all of the bad guys, and that no one else would still be here. Bryce had already checked out six rooms downstairs and there were only a few more left. The next door he tried wiggling the knob, was locked. A knowing smile formed on his face, "I found you," he whispered to the door he believed hid the security room they were looking for. Holstering his weapon Bryce dug into his pocket for his lock picking kit as he knelt. Before he could pull the pack from his pocket, the door shot open.

He looked up in shock to find an impatient Sarah Walker staring down at him. "Where's your weapon?" The question was spoken acridly with implied derision.

"I-uh" He stumbled to find the words.

"We don't have time for this, and you don't need to waste time picking one of these locks. There are no alarms on the doors inside the house. Let's go" She almost growled out as she stormed into the security room.

Sarah started working on the computer whose monitor showed the different views of the house and the rooms within it. She checked the disk that was already in the computer and started searching the video matching the time stamp to when Casey and Shaw had been in the house. On the footage of the camera pointing towards the staircase, she watched as both of the agents were captured by the Russians. On the portion of the screen showing the camera recording in the opposite direction, she spotted Chuck's face peeking through an almost closed door.

"Wow, he isn't exactly the suave and sleek spy we think he is." She spoke in surprise.

Bryce looked closely at the monitor she was watching, "Is he peeking? Does he think they won't see him?"

"They obviously didn't, or he wouldn't have gotten away." She replied acidly.

"He was lucky." Bryce spat out.

"Yeah… lucky." She answered as she remembered the time spent with this not-so-spy like spy.

The video continued to play as Chuck appeared again on the screen. This time he wasn't peeking out of a cracked door, but moving purposely through the room containing the scientist's safe. They watched as he made precise movements and actions resulting in him opening the safe. Sarah and Bryce peered closely as Chuck reached in and pulled out the Equalizer. Bryce and Sarah gaped in astonishment at the screen a moment later Bryce said, "No shit."

Sarah spoke aloud what Bryce had concluded silently, "He's making an Intersect."


	6. The Park

A/N: I wanted to get this chapter done about a week ago, but that didn't work out due to some extreme editing reasons, so I apologize for that. However, I'm pretty sure that this chapter will be much more enjoyable for everyone (unless you don't enjoy seeing Chuck and Sarah together, but why would you be reading this if that was the case.) Anyway, I'm going to stop blabbing and let you get to the chapter.

No, I lied, I have two more things to say. A GIGANTIC -and I mean bigger than the thanks I give this guy every chapter- thanks to GladiusGrim for helping me out big time on this story and always there for support. And lastly on my agenda, I do not own Chuck. I want to so much, but we all know that shall never happen. Without further ado, I give you Chapter 6: The Park, of Chuck vs. The Butterfly Effect... *Lights dim and curtains open*

Chapter 6: The Park

July 29, 2009

Glendale, California

Chuck's Hotel Room

8:10 am

Attempting to dry himself with a towel while packing the clothes left strewn on the floor from the night before, Chuck was trying to multi-task so he could get out of this hotel room. As much as he hated to admit it, he knew where his home was and that wasn't here; it was where his family was. He managed to brush his teeth, comb his hair, get dressed, and still get out the door in a half an hour. Bag in hand, Chuck left the room and headed towards the elevator. Once he got to the lobby, he took his room key out of his pocket and went towards the front desk that was facing the door to the hotel.

As Chuck handed the receptionist his key, she asked "Your name, please?"

"Chuck Bartowski,"

"Room number...-" She paused for a moment while looking on the monitor in front of her, "-...327." Right as the words were coming out of her mouth, two very tired agents entered the room. Chuck turned his head casually towards the door when he heard the bells chime. He saw a strikingly beautiful blonde accompanied by a frat-boy brunette; Chuck gaped for a quick moment before turning his head in the opposite direction as fast as possible. The receptionist, unsure of what he was doing, frowned as she asked, "Are you alright, sir?"

In a conspiratorial whisper, he responded "Yes, that's my...-" He fumbled, trying to find the right thing to say, "ex-girlfriend. It ended badly and I would rather not have a surprise encounter."

She sympathetically nodded in response and gave the two agents passing by a big smile and then gave Chuck the okay when they were gone. "You're all set."

"Thanks." He said while giving her a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, "I appreciate it."

As he left, he couldn't help but be thankful that he used his real name at the hotel, instead of Charles Carmichael. If the two spies found out that he stayed there, things would turn bad fast.

* * *

In her hotel room, Sarah was trying to relieve her stress as she often did, by pacing back and forth. She berated herself wondering how she could have been so blind. The General, Bryce, Shaw, and Casey were all right; Charles Carmichael was just another criminal. The one difference is that he managed to be the only criminal she hasn't been able to peg from the very beginning. All the signs were there, he wouldn't be open about anything, he was always snooping around, and he was quite good with technology. She couldn't believe how naïve she had become.

Walking to the bathroom, Sarah splashed some cold water onto her face. It helped her somewhat, but she still felt this vulnerable feeling deep inside her, one she couldn't beat out of her. Leaning against the wall, she stared at her own face in the mirror. Her face was raw and all too emotional. Why this one man she barely knows is getting to her this badly, she didn't know. He wasn't special in anyway, he was just another thief. He broke into someone's house and stole a piece of equipment that would soon be the government's technology. But if that's all that he was doing, then this would make her whole team criminals. The difference is that they were stealing for the government, but morally, that shouldn't make it right. This exact argument had gone on often in her head. Is killing and stealing completely excused if you're doing it under the hand of the president? Some people did their jobs to help save innocent people; others did it because they get to carry a gun.

Rubbing her hands over her face, she took one last look at herself in the mirror and felt an uncontrollable wave of self-pity, quickly overwhelmed with a sense of hatred for who she had become. Not sure what she was about to do, or where she was going, Sarah grabbed her car keys and headed out of the hotel room. Setting a steady pace towards the elevator, she wasn't able to stop herself when Bryce appeared in her path. Strong hands tightly gripped her shoulders and immediately stopped her from continuing.

"Hey, Sarah! What's going on?" Bryce asked with a great amount of concern.

Sarah's hand lifted automatically to her face and she felt a dampness on her cheek. Looking at her hand as if the moisture was a foreign object to her she retorted, "Nothing," She snapped out and attempted to continue on her trip to the elevator.

Watching her walk away, Bryce determined whether he should stop her or just let her go; he opted for the former. "Sarah!" He yelled after her.

"What Bryce!" Sarah yelled as she whipped around.

Bryce started walking slowly towards her, closing the gap between them. "You haven't been the same person since Carmichael came into our lives. I know what they say about everyone you meet changing your life, but this isn't good for you."

"You don't get to determine what's good for me and what's not." She stubbornly responded.

"I know you're under a lot of stress with finding this guy and with Beckman suspending you. It's all a lot to handle and to take in, but I don't care what kind of spy everyone expects you to be, you need to be the kind of person you _want_ to be."

"I'm not buying your new nice guy act, Bryce! You can't just turn your different personalities on and off! Life doesn't work that way."

Bryce stepped away and let her finish her destination towards the elevator. He turned, walking in the opposite direction to head into his hotel room. He went into his kitchen and opened the refrigerator, not to get something to eat, but grabbed a raw chicken and tossed it energetically onto the counter. Grabbing one of the biggest knives he has, Bryce started to aggressively chop and stab. Not sure why this was soothing to him, Bryce continued to decimate the meat. Why was it that every time he tried to get close to Sarah, she pulled away like he was an infectious disease? By the time he was finished, Bryce had done a savage amount of damage while completely absorbed in by the Intersect's reaction.

Suddenly, the knife plummeted to the floor as his hands moved immediately to his head, cradling it. Eyes rolled into the back of his head, as his body fell hard against the refrigerator door with a loud thump. Sliding to the floor, he curled into a fetal position, his hands pounding against his temples. A roar soon erupted from his throat and he seemed to crumble in place. Finally, he passed out into a now painless exhaustion.

* * *

Chuck was driving back towards the home he shared with his father and mother. Unable to think of anything un-spy related, he opted to just keep his mind as calm as possible. With one hand on the wheel, he used his other to slowly trace the cold metal frame of the Equalizer in his pocket. He needed to deliver the device to his father. With this as a gift, even his father probably couldn't stay mad at him. Arriving in the driveway, Chuck parked in the garage and made his way out of his car. Walking up to the door, pausing before going in, almost as if he was a guest in his own home. He decided to enter after taking a moment for mental preparation. The first person he met in the house was his now over-worried and usually over-protective mother.

"Hey, stranger." She greeted quietly.

"Hi, mom. Sorry for worrying you, I just had some things to think about." Chuck replied with a small shrug.

"I'm not sure what it is you had to think about, but remember that I'm always here to talk." Mary placed her hand on Chuck's shoulder and comfortingly rubbed it up and down.

Chuck gave her a slight smile, "I also have a present for father."

"And not for me?" Mary Bartowski asked her son jokingly.

"I don't think you'll appreciate this as much as he will."

As if on cue, Chuck's father walked into the room. "What about me, son?"

Pulling the Equalizer out of his pocket, Chuck handed it carefully to his father. "Ta-da." Chuck said rather sarcastically.

Stephen took the Equalizer and clutched it carefully in his hands. He brought his hand up to Chuck's shoulder, giving him an awkward pat, and then quickly turned away, moving back to his computers.

Chuck sighed silent, yet visibly. Mary noticed, as she did most things; her training as a spy made it second nature. She gently placed her hand on his back as she spoke with an even voice. "He loves you."

"Mhmm." Chuck mumbled and started to walk away, but the once gentle hand now gripped his arm tightly.

"You know he loves you, Charles. Don't slide into self-pity. Your father loves you very much, and many people don't have that. Think of yourself as lucky, not the other way around." Chuck's mother gave one of her favorite speeches that provided just the right amount of reassurance and a tad too much guilt. Unwanted, yet effective.

"I never doubted his love for me, but his work is top priority. I know that and you know that. I also know that you try to fool yourself into thinking that it's not true, but it is."

"Chuck-" Mary was cut off directly by her son.

"I'm not trying to preach my heartbreaking tale to anyone who will listen. I'm just stating a fact." Before Mary could stop him again, he quickly left the house and sunk into the cool leather seats of his car; the only thing that felt remotely close to home to him lately.

* * *

After driving while, losing track of time, Sarah arrived at her destination. The most peaceful place she has seen her whole life. It is this park that she often passes while driving towards much less peaceful places that she has to deal with on a daily basis. Getting out of her car Sarah just stood, admiring the atmosphere of warmth around her. She had never actually taken a step onto the lush green grass that this park provided, never swung on the well maintained swings, and not once skipped a rock into the sparkling blue pond. Feeling as if the whole place was welcoming her in, it was as if she was unconsciously being pulled into this overwhelming amount of serenity.

Sarah walked to the weeping willow tree placed right next to the pond. At first she just stood and gently caressed the bark of the tree until she found the desire to sit and enjoy the pond and the people around her without any hesitations. To her right, there were joggers and bikers traveling on the narrow cement pathway marking the perimeter of the park. On her left, kids were lightly tossing bread to a family of ducks that just happened to be walking by. Finally, Sarah felt as if she could just relax. No spies chasing her, no guns pointed at her head, and no Beckman.

She let her eyes wander aimlessly from the center of the pond where the glistening water let her mind completely relax, no connections to the world around her; just her and the park. The more she relaxed the more her mind drifted. Sarah started to think of seemingly unimportant actions such as what she was going to eat for dinner tonight, with her thoughts becoming more and more serious. Eventually, her mind's eye remembered the time she had spent with Chuck. He was so kind and he had such a caring nature, yet he was also a thief, a criminal, and possibly a liar. When she factored in the last three variables, they tend to cancel out the first two. The worst part is how he could have an open and honest conversation with her, without once regretting the fact that he had just stolen one of the most important pieces of equipment that could help military advancement as well as help solve crimes in half the time they do now. To add insult to injury in this whole situation was the fact that she was affected by this, seemingly non-existent person while he was probably building himself an Intersect. How he managed to even get wind of the Intersect project blew her away. It was so confidential; it was surprising the president knew anything about it. But why should she be surprised? He managed to do the unexpected in every situation thrown at him, why would it be any different now?

* * *

Chuck was jogging along the sidewalk around the same park he was always drawn to. It was large enough to give him a thorough workout and was beautiful to look at. Halfway around the park, he took a turn onto the pathway that led through the middle of it.

Everything in his head was jumbled in every which way. Chuck started off his day almost having what would be a tragic encounter with the two super-spies. How they just happened to stay at the same hotel he went to, he had no idea. They looked extremely tired, even under their well put on masks. The advantage of living with spies his whole life was that Chuck was able to see past the covers that everyone put on to hide their raw emotions from the world. Then he was able to have another stimulating conversation with his father and leaving the house on a bad note with his mother. Overall, Chuck was having a great day so far!

Still traveling on the path through the park, Chuck looked backwards to see his progress so far. Right as he turned his head forwards again, a teenager on a bike went speeding by and clipped Chuck's arm and left a large gash. He muttered some expletives under his breath while walking towards the pond nearby. He wasn't at all sure how clean the water was, but it was some of the freshest looking water he'd seen in the whole Los Angeles area. Using his unwounded arm, he scooped up some water and washed off the blood that was dripping from his forearm. About to rip a patch from his shirt to bandage his cut, he heard someone walk up from behind him.

"Are you okay?" A gentle, feminine voice asked.

Turning around, Chuck was face to face with the one and only, Sarah Walker. Her eyebrows were raised as high as they could go, and her eyes popped open. Her mouth hanging open slightly, he could only imagine that his face looked just as astonished as hers did.

Chuck gave a small laugh, "Well, it's good to see you again."

Sarah just stood there staring at Chuck with the same surprised look plastered on her face. Finally, she got enough sense to get a few words out, "You're bleeding."

Chuck looked down at his forearm now covered with blood. _That's a start_ Chuck thought to himself. "Yeah, I guess I am."

Both of them still in a sort of daze, they continued to stare at each other for several more moments. A few children running by playing tag broke them of their focus. Still stumbling for words, Sarah said, "Let's get your arm washed off."

Sarah scooped some water out of the pond and lightly poured it onto Chuck's arm. Once it was completely free of blood, she looked around for something to bandage it up with. Chuck pulled his thin, cotton tank-top over his head and handed it to her to tie up his arm with. Instead of immediately taking the shirt, Sarah couldn't manage to avert her eyes from his now uncovered chest. His muscles were prominent and damp from his run. She barely resisted the need to reach out and touch his scar from the first day she met him.

Chuck, amused, said "Hello? Sarah Walker, are you anywhere inside that body of yours?"

"I-um, sorry. I was distracted by something in the water." She took the shirt from Chuck's hand and tied it sturdily onto his arm.

"This has to be the most coincidental incident that could possibly happen."

Still fixing the shirt onto his arm, Sarah said without looking up, "I don't believe in coincidences."

Chuck threw out another idea, "What about luck? This could be considered lucky, you know." He wiggled his eyebrows in a playful way.

"Luck is when preparation meets opportunity."

"Now that was inspiring, Miss Walker. How about we just not label this at all, since you seem to be picky about your nouns." Chuck teased and looked down at his now patched arm. "You're pretty good at playing doctor."

Giving him a small smile, Sarah responded, "It's all part of the job."

Being reminded of her job seemed to jolt Sarah's memory. She had been debating all day on how she felt about Chuck. Now that she came face to face with him, all her doubts flew right out the window. The biggest thing that she needed to remember was that he didn't tell her the truth. She couldn't just ignore the fact that he stole one of the most important pieces of technology needed by the government. Internally, she worked up the nerve to say something to Chuck.

"I-" An ear-piercing shriek cut through Sarah's ears while cutting off her sentence. Without giving it second thought, the two bolted upward and ran without hesitation towards the screams. Both Chuck and Sarah crept behind a bush where they found several men gripping a wriggling brunette.

Chuck whispered to Sarah, "She can't be much older than twenty years old."

"She's just a kid."

The girl's screams were now muffled by a large man's hand latched onto her face. The whole park was now empty of running children, elderly couples, and athletes. It was all but silent, except for the cries of a young woman. Chuck and Sarah ran on opposite sides of the bush towards the burley looking men. Before they could get there, a black van pulled up and the men were forcefully shoving the girl into it. They were almost successful in getting her in the van, if it hadn't been for Chuck grabbing the largest man from behind. While Chuck had the biggest man temporarily restrained, Sarah threw a kick to his chest causing him to involuntarily curl up. She then struck his jaw with a strong sidekick.

Before Sarah could get another move in, she was shoved downward while a round-house kick was occurring right above her head. She heard a cracking of bone and looked up at the smallest of the men gripping his now broken jaw. The van had driven away sometime during the commotion and took two out of the four men with it. The girl was now curled up next to a nearby tree, not able to go much farther because of a hurt ankle.

Thinking both men were out cold, Chuck started to head over to the girl.

"Duck!" Yelled Sarah as she landed a punch to the nose of the large man hovering over Chuck's shoulders. A crunching noise indicated that it was indefinitely broken.

"You, Bitch!" He yelled and charged directly for Sarah. Chuck, still crouched in between them, swung his legs in a low, but fast movement and knocked the man backward, landing on his back. Sarah then finished the job by landing a final kick the side of his head, while he was disoriented, knocking him unconscious.

The smaller man was still squirming in the corner, gripping his now sensitive jaw. Sarah gripped his hand and dragged him towards the large man and cuffed their wrists together. Pulling out her phone, she dialed the local police and called in an attempted kidnapping.

Waiting for the cops to show up, she walked lazily over to Chuck. "Are you okay?" She asked.

"Not a scratch on me." He said and smiled while looking into her deep, blue eyes. He had just finished calming the girl, letting her know that she would be alright and no one could hurt her anymore. When the two saw police cruisers driving up the street, they looked at each other questioningly.

Chuck started to speedily walk away, not wanting to reveal too much information about himself to the police officers; especially around Sarah. Expecting to be left walking alone, he was surprised when his favorite blonde was walking in sync with him. Looking to his right at Sarah, Chuck asked in a partially joking manner. "Don't you need to help the officers on-scene find the bad guys?"

"I'm pretty sure that they can find the _bad guys_ on their own. Not to mention that I'll send them the van's license plate number and the description of the two men later tonight." She said, not overly concerned about the whole thing.

Chuck thought to himself for a moment before saying, "Go talk to them now and give them their information. I don't want any other girls getting hurt because we waited too long to talk to the police."

"Sorry, Chuck, but I can't just let you walk away. Do you know how hard it is to find you? I'm fairly certain that you are higher on the government's most wanted list than a couple of kidnappers."

"That might be, but I don't plan on hurting innocent people in the process of my...work."

"Chuck, I can't ju-," Sarah was cut off mid-sentence by Chuck.

"I'm coming with you, then."

Sarah stopped immediately in her tracks and gazed up at him. "What exactly are you going to tell the cops when they ask who you are?"

A sly smile appeared on his face as he said, "That I'm your boyfriend."

* * *

Chuck and Sarah had told the police everything they had seen and were now walking away from the scene, and walking towards the Weeping Willow tree next to the pond. They stood side by side staring into the clear, blue waters.

"Do you have a boyfriend?" Chuck asked evenly, without looking at Sarah.

Confusion crossed over her face, "What?"

"Are you dating that frat-boy agent? Or the one that shot me?"

She smirked, understanding now exactly what he was asking. She knew she didn't have time for boyfriends and dates every night, but he didn't know that. Sarah decided to wait and see what his response is, instead of telling him that she doesn't date. Not only does she not date because she doesn't have time, but she wasn't planning on going out with the man she was supposed to be putting in jail.

"No, I'm not dating the _frat-boy,_ or Shaw."

"Okay, good."

Confusion filled frown now filled her face; it wasn't exactly the reaction she was expecting. She waited a few moments to see if he would make any sort of response besides the one he already made. He didn't.

"That's it?" She questioned as he started to walk away. She jogged to catch back up to him, and they continued on their journey out of the large park.

Chuck gave her one of his genuine smiles, "Now I know I can take you on a date, which is where we are going right now."

"Oh, is that right?" Sarah challenged.

"Honestly, I have no idea. I was just hoping you would agree." He admitted.

For several minutes they walked in amiable silence out of the park. The children hadn't returned, and the birds were hiding in their trees. The pond was still and the wind silent. Sarah dueled with her conscious, debating on whether she should go on the date, or just take him to the Castle. Her brain knew she should just cuff him and report him to the General, but her heart wanted to run away with Chuck and live happily ever after. She knew the latter wasn't going to happen, and she wasn't so sure that the former was ever going to happen either.

Chuck broke her out of her thoughts, "Is that a no on the date?" He jokingly asked.

Giving it another minute to process in her mind, Sarah finally spoke up, "Chuck, I can't go on a date with you. It's against everything I stand for and I'm fairly certain that it's against the law."

"Why?" He stated flatly.

"You are wanted by several government agencies, and one of which I work for, so technically that is against the law." She tried to explain, without hurting his feelings too badly.

Impatiently, he retorted, "That's not what I meant and you know it. Why is it against everything you stand for? Did you ever think that maybe I'm not as bad as the government labeled me? The worst part of our whole country is the judgmental hypocrites that are in power."

He began walking away when she yelled at him, "Not as bad as the government labeled you? How are you not as bad? You broke into a CIA facility! You stole government property!"

Chuck whipped around and spat out his next words, "You don't get it, do you? You're beloved government was stealing that piece of technology from a scientist! It wasn't anymore theirs to take than it was mine." He turned back in the opposite direction and stormed off, only to be stopped by a death grip to his wrist and a cold metal cuff latching onto him.

He turned his head backwards and saw Sarah looking down at his hands that she was handcuffing. "You're under arre-" Sarah attempted to say, but was gripped on the neck by Chuck's free hand and pushed in front of him. She took her legs and used them to sweep his feet from under him.

Hitting hard on the ground, he threw a kick up to her stomach that sent her flying back several feet. A hand grasped her foot and yanked upwards causing her to hit the ground with a thud. Chuck's Nike running shoe bore down on her throat. Faking immobility, Sarah stood lifeless for a moment until Chuck's foot eased up slightly and she attacked. One hand on his heel, the other on the tip of his foot. She twisted until a snapping noise occurred, then she pushed his foot upwards and he went flailing backwards.

Chuck knew the stakes were against him now; with a twisted ankle and a very angry blonde standing over him, he knew he didn't stand much of a chance. Hoping the Intersect would have one more useful flash left to use, he concentrated with all the strength he had left. Eyes rolled slightly back into his head, lips parted slightly, focus with outside world was lost. For a second, he was gone.

His mind quickly leaped back into reality. Chuck's uninjured foot stuck Sarah in her prominent leg. He swept her ankles and watched as she plummeted to the ground. As she was lying there, Chuck grabbed her foot and yanked it towards him, dragging her whole body with her. Out of breath, she didn't fight back, and he didn't attack. He dragged her in a way so she was lying right next to him and he rolled on top of her. Eyes wide and breathing heavy, Sarah gazed up into his deep brown eyes.

"Are we done?" Chuck whispered slowly to her.

Sarah answered by grasping his neck, pulling his head down, and latching her mouth to his. All her anger, adrenaline, and energy was transformed into passion and lust as she kissed him and he kissed back. Chuck was the one man that listened to her and treated her more than just an agent and just another woman. Even if he was a criminal and he was wanted by the government and if this was highly illegal, she didn't stop because he was the one thing she has needed for the longest time and she wasn't willing to give that up… to give him up.

Before it turned into more than just kissing in a public park, she slowly pulled away. Her hands were buried in his lush brown hair; her legs tangled loosely with his. One of his hands was trailing up and down her back while the other was gripping her blonde locks.

Opening her eyes, she whispered, "Yeah, we're done."

* * *

A/N: Thanks for reading, Review your feelings, complaints, ideas, ect. Hope you enjoyed!


	7. Fulcrum

A/N: Like always, a big thanks to **Gladius Grim** for always helping me out in my story.

This time around I thought I'd mix things up a little bit, so I have a little competition for anyone that's up for it. I have a quote in the last chapter I wrote (chapter 6) from one of my favorite movies. Who ever can find that quote and points it out as a review or in a private message, I will give a prize. As much as I would love to give the winner an imaginary pat on the back as there prize, I'm pretty sure none of you are really up for that. Instead, I will let the winner (if there is more than one winner, then both will win the prize) review and read my chapter before I put it on the site. You will get to do what my pal **Gladius Grim** does and give suggestions, opinions, what ever you want. The trick to the whole thing is that the movie is rather uncommon and a lot of people probably wont catch it. If, say, more than 3 people turn in the right answer than I'll pick the first two or three people who got it right. I was always one for some friendly competition so I thought I would spice things up a little. I will give one hint as to where the quote is...it is somewhere in the dialogue.

Happy Thanksgiving to all and enjoy the chapter. Oh, and I don't own Chuck.

* * *

July 29, 2009

Glendale, California

Sarah's Car

6:30 pm

* * *

Chuck and Sarah were driving in her car towards Sarah's apartment to put Chuck's sprained ankle in a brace. She shouldn't have been that cruel to his ankle, but in her eyes, at the time it was well deserved. He, on the other hand, didn't think so.

After their minor make-out session in the park, there was no turning back. Forgetting that it happened would be an impossible task that neither of them was going to attempt to accomplish. Sarah wasn't sure how she would be able to keep meeting with Chuck without getting caught, but she was willing to try as long as he was. She needed this one stable figure in her life; in reality, she knew he was far from stable, but in her eyes he was a diamond. Rock solid, yet beautiful.

Sarah's left hand was on the steering wheel and her right lying on the middle compartment. Chuck's fingers were intertwined with hers as he rubbed his thumb along the backside of her hand. It was such an innocent act that she had been deprived of ever since Bryce had gotten the Intersect. Thinking back however, Sarah realized that Bryce had never been one for small intimacies or innocent acts. He usually liked to skip the foreplay and jump right to the end, which left Sarah disappointed that another person in her life only wanted her for her looks, or the fact that she was the only person around. The Intersect didn't change Bryce's personality drastically; all it did was enhance his traits ten-fold. He had always been a self-absorbed person; she just hadn't wanted to see it before. Now it seemed as if lately Bryce was trying to rewind their whole relationship and re-write it, but he was not going to succeed in this little game he's playing. Because in the end it was another game for him to get what he wanted from her, but damn it she wanted something from a relationship and she knew it wasn't him. These thoughts of Bryce made Sarah strangely uncomfortable and she slid her hand away from Chuck's and gripped the steering wheel tightly, her knuckles turning white.

Chuck noticed the tension that suddenly had formed in her body. He wasn't sure if confronting it was the right thing to do, or to just let the issue be. Not sure what he had done wrong, he decided to go for broke and bring it up.

"Sarah, what's wrong?" Chuck asked curiously.

She didn't answer for a few moments. Finally, she said, "Nothing."

He looked at her almost incredulously, unable to believe that she thinks he is that dense. He sighed, "I'm not sure what you've had to deal with before, but I'm not as dumb as you're implying. There's obviously something wrong." He paused, and then continued in a gentler tone. "You can tell me, but if you don't want to, just tell me that. Don't just put it off as 'nothing'; thinking I'm just going to ignore the fact that something is bothering you."

Sarah gave a half laugh. "Wow, you basically just proved yourself as Bryce's polar opposite."

Confused, Chuck said, "I'm not following you."

"You manage to be the kindest guy I have ever met. It's the smallest things you do that make you so…great. You probably don't even notice..." She trailed off.

He smiled, completely flattered by her comment. Trying to turn his body more towards her, Chuck tweaked his ankle and let out a small yelp. Sarah's head shot towards him as she asked, "Are you okay?"

Nodding, Chuck said, "It seems every time we have met, you end up having to repair me in one way or another. Now, you're the cause of the damage." He gave a big grin, and she giggled.

"That reminds me, we have to go to the store and get a brace for your ankle."

"Mmm." He mumbled, his mind taking him back to his childhood.

_"Ow! Oww! Ellie!" Chuck yelled in excruciating pain._

_ Ellie looked down at her little brother and straightened out his leg. His response to this was a scream she thought would break the sound barrier. Their mother ran out of the house asking what in the world was wrong. When she saw Chuck on the ground yelling bloody-murder, she raced towards the swing that he was lying under. _

_"Ellie! Ellie, what did you do?" Mary Bartowski demanded._

_ "He jumped from the swing and fell. It wasn't me, mom, I swear!" Ellie pleaded with her mother._

_ Mary got up and started running towards the house. She yelled to Ellie before opening the door. "I'm calling the doctor, don't touch his leg! I'll be right back."_

_ Ellie knelt next to Chuck and allowed him to keep his death grip on her hand. "It's okay, Chuck. You'll be fine. When we go to the store, I'll buy you a lollipop. An-and mom will buy you a brace for your ankle. It's okay. It's okay." Ellie continued whispering this, more for her own sake than Chuck's._

"Are you okay? Chuck?" Sarah's voice broke him out of his flashback and he lightly shook his head.

"I-um, yeah, I'm fine. Just spaced out a little." He said trying to cover for his trip to the past.

More concerned than before, she said, "Maybe your ankle is worse than I thought."

"No, it's fine. I just remembered something. It was when I injured my ankle as a kid. I was only about...-" He paused, remembering the details. "-eight years old. I jumped off the swing in my back yard and landed wrong. My sister, she kept saying, 'it's okay, it's okay' and I just kept screaming." He was talking more to himself now then he was to Sarah.

She lifted her hand off the steering wheel and squeezed Chuck's hand lightly, letting him know that everything, in fact, would be okay.

* * *

Casey and Shaw were lying on hospital beds inside of a government-owned care center. They were both recovering from the injuries received from the brutal torture at the hands of their captors.. Casey was asleep while Shaw was watching the extremely unappealing television that not even the prescribed drugs could make better. He had tried sleeping at several different times during the day, but couldn't manage it; instead he took out his cell phone that one of his friend's on-shift had slipped him when no one was looking. He dialed the first number in his speed dial; Sarah. It rang several times until a familiar voice answered.

_"Hello"_

"Hey, Sarah."

_"Daniel? How are you doing?"_

"Better. I'm bored as hell, though. I thought maybe you could come over and keep me company." Shaw said in a less than professional tone.

There was a pause on the line for a minute followed by Sarah saying, _"I'm a little busy right now."_ The next thing out of her mouth wasn't a word, but something in between a moan and a purr.

He asked hesitantly, "You're not with Bryce, are you?"

_"Hmm? No-pe."_ The second half of her word jumped up three octaves and then a giggle rang over the phone. _"I reaaally have to go."_

"Sarah? Sarah!" He said, but the line had already gone dead. "Great. This is just great." He threw the phone against the wall and it landed with a smash on the floor. Surprisingly, Casey didn't wake up; looks like a bear, sleeps like a bear. Shaw took his hand and pushed it through his hair. He had no idea who Sarah was with, but he knew that his chances to be with her just went down dramatically.

A young, attractive nurse entered the room with a clipboard. Shutting the door behind her, she walked towards Shaw's bed. "How are you feeling, Agent Shaw?" A smile formed on her face.

"I'm fine." He said without looking at her, a scowl on his face.

"That's good." She said as a pistol was held to his head, "If you make a sound, you're not going to be so fine." A mock pout formed on her face. "We wouldn't want that, now would we?"

His whole body went stone still. She continued, "Now you are going to get in this wheel chair and cooperate with me, while I take you out to the parking lot. There, me and a few of my friends will put you in our van. We'll drive you to a nice cozy place. I promise." She winked at him.

"Why are you doing this?" Daniel asked flatly.

"Because you and you're friend over there-" She motioned to Casey, still sleeping. "-are working on the Intersect project. I made sure he had some drugs to help him sleep. We wouldn't want him causing a scene while you're leaving."

"I don't know what you're talking about." He played dumbstruck.

"Of course you do. You were the two agents trying to get the Equalizer. The same Equalizer that is used to build the Intersect computer.

"Who do you work for?" Shaw demanded.

"A nice little organization called Fulcrum. I'll tell you all about it once we reach out destination. Now let's get you into this wheel chair." She pulled the chair towards him and let him get in it while she stood at a distance with her gun pointed at his chest. He winced when a piercing pain shot through his midsection. Cringing at the immediate discomfort, he was hit upside the head with the cold metal of a gun. "Don't try to play anything funny with me!" She whispered in a harsh tone.

Shaw sat limply in the wheel chair waiting for her to push him out of the room. His previous inflicted injuries had caused him to become very weak and his tolerance level for withstanding pain drastically lower.

"Good boy." She said and smiled. Taking a large syringe out of her pocket, she stuck it in right above his collarbone. "'Night, Daniel." His kidnapper said pleasantly.

* * *

Mary Bartowski leaned against the door frame of her husband's office. He was studying the new toy he had received from his son; the Equalizer. Mary moved from her position at the door and went to the back of her husband's chair, placing her hands on his shoulders. Stephen's head turned towards his wife's face and he smiled. Taking off his glasses, he stood up from his chair and faced Mary. "Hey, hon." He said giving her a kiss on her forehead.

"Chuck's not home yet." She said apprehensively.

Closing the distance between himself and the mini-fridge, he yanked the door open and grabbed two bottles of beer. "Mmm, Charles hasn't been home a lot lately." He handed her a bottle and took a swig of his own.

"Do you think you could talk to him? He looks up to you, Stephen." Mary pleaded to her husband.

He almost choked on his drink. "Looks up to me? Mary, you have to be joking. He makes it a point to challenge me on most everything I say."

"That's because he's your son and _you _make it a point to ignore him except when you need him to go on another mission. Did you ever think that maybe he just wants a normal life?"

"Our son has never had a normal life, and wouldn't know what to do with it if he did."

* * *

Bryce woke up on his kitchen floor, clothes soaked through with sweat and head throbbing. Sighing, he got up slowly and headed towards his bathroom. He opened his medicine cabinet and dumped out seven aspirin tablets. Tossing them all in his mouth, he turned on the faucet and cupped his hands, getting water to help swallow the pills.

Going to his sofa, he plopped down and turned the television on. He wasn't listening to what was happening on the screen as much as he was using the noise to drown out everything else around him. His eyelids drooped shut and the Intersect as well as his mind temporarily shut down.

* * *

Shaw woke up in a small, dark room. He saw no sign of anyone else being in the room. The only sound was the constant ticking of a nearby clock. Attempting to move his arm, it was jarred backwards by a chain attached to his wrist. It was a familiar pair of cuffs that he often found himself putting on a variety of criminals. The cold, metal chair he was chained to was bolted to the floor. Finally shaking himself out of his hazy state, his eyes adjusted to the dark. A small camera was fastened to the farthest corner of the ceiling. Trying to work his way out of the handcuffs, he squirmed around in the chair. Eventually giving up, he slumped down with a look of defeat. His hair was slicked down with sweat and his shirt soaked through, proving just how bad his immune system had gotten since the incident. Neither Shaw nor Casey liked to think about the day they were captured; not only because it had caused them so much physical pain, but the fact that they were haunted by the images and pain some might say psychologically damaged but it was something neither man was willing to admit.

With a light shake of his head, Daniel tried to roll off the oncoming wave of nausea. Before his stomach could churn up his lunch, the door to the room opened, revealing the nurse from the hospital. She had taken off the scrubs and glasses; now wearing tight jeans, high black boots, a dark blue shirt, and a black leather jacket. Her hair was down, falling past her shoulders. This appearance was much more intimidating than her one at the hospital which frightened the already weakened agent even more.

"Hey, little Danny boy. Can I call you Danny?" As she walked closer a sinister scowl formed on her face. "I hear your mother calls you Danny. Would it make you feel more at home if we called you Danny here?"

Daniel became furious at the thought of her laying a hand on his mother. "What do you want from me?" He hissed.

"We did some research on you and your partner, Danny. When we saw you two were going to steal the Equalizer, we knew something went wrong. After a little work, our researchers found out that you and Agent Casey are part of a top secret government organized project. Team O Mellor is what they call you, but it doesn't get us any closer to what your team does. Not many government projects are as classified as yours. We just had to put the pieces together to find out that you two are working on the Intersect project. There are others working with you as well. It's only a matter of time before we find out who they are."

A low growl escaped from Shaw's throat. "Do your worst." He said with a sadistic gleam in his eye.

A light, almost cheerful laugh flitted from her lips. "That's where Fulcrum's going to do things a little differently.

* * *

Chuck and Sarah had now reached her hotel having already gotten his newly acquired ankle brace on. Helping him to get out of the car, Sarah supported Chuck as they walked slowly through the front door of the hotel. Inside the lobby, Sarah ignored the lobby attendant, but Chuck glanced over to find the same one he had encountered the last time he had been in this lobby. She looked back at him and saw that he was with Sarah. Giving him a wink in congratulations for getting his 'ex-girlfriend' back. He nodded politely at her with a slight smile, but continued limping towards the elevator.

Sarah had to make sure no one was in the elevator before she got in it with Chuck. One of his arms was slumped over her shoulder and the other was gripping the bar attached to the wall. Her head nuzzled into his shoulder and she was comfortable, for the first time, with someone other than herself. Sarah wasn't sure why she was bringing Chuck up to her hotel room. It would be dangerous taking him so close to Bryce. If he found out that she was in contact with him, and she didn't arrest him, she could be fired or actually worse. In her defense, she did try to arrest him. Once. It didn't work.

Technically, getting to know Chuck more could help her team. If he turned out to be something other than who he said he was, then she could turn him in. She would have then already figured out how he planned to build an Intersect, who he's working with, why he did it, and what his real name is. Actually, this is like Sarah running an independent op mused as she worked through her logic. Find out all the information she needed and then tell the General. So she could successfully arrest Chuck.

As much as Sarah wanted to believe this little fantasy, she couldn't and wouldn't. She could trick other people and treat them as marks, but not Chuck. He was too sincere, too...something. She didn't know what it was, but there is something about him that set him apart from everyone else in her life, that made him different. He's different. It wouldn't be right to trick him; she couldn't even if she tried.

Sarah's mind drifted to her last phone call with Shaw. She had always thought that Daniel was the one on her team that she could talk to. Obviously, all he wanted was some _company_- the kind that she wasn't interested in giving. She didn't mind so much now that she has a newer- albeit, more complicated- relationship. She wasn't heartbroken on the phone when she found out that Shaw was nothing other than, well, a _man. _She would have had an entirely different reaction if Chuck hadn't been so _distracting_. Necking with the man that is being hunted by her team, while talking to one of her partners on the phone probably wasn't the best of ideas, but it was a risk she was willing to take.

The elevator reached her floor with a ding and they staggered out. Taking out her room key, Sarah headed towards her door with Chuck using her shoulder as a crutch. Once they reached her door, Chuck whispered, "This is your room?"

She looked around in confusion, "Yes."

"You have got to be kidding me." He mumbled incredulously to himself.

Sarah looked at him as if he had two heads. "Chuck, what's going on? What are you talking about?"

"It's nothing." He said. "I'll tell you later." Chuck gave her a light push on the back to get her to go into the room.

Using the walls to keep himself upright, Chuck made his way towards the bed. Making his way over, he plopped down on the bed and used his arms to pull his body up to the pillows. Putting his arms behind his head, he relaxed.

Sarah went over to the bed and sat down next to him. "Just make yourself at home." She said sarcastically.

"Oh, don't worry. I am." He smirked with his eyes still closed.

She laughed and said, "I'm going to go to the store and get something to eat. Don't leave the room; I don't want Bryce to find you. If anyone knocks on the door, don't answer it and act like no one's home. Understand?"

"Yes, mom." He teased sardonically.

She got up from the bed and left him alone. Walking to her car, she imagined what she would be doing if Chuck hadn't come into her life. She supposed she'd be doing the same thing she did just about every day; go to work, come home, work out, shower, and then sleep. Her life was directed in a very monotonous path. Maybe Chuck had come into her life for a reason, to shake things up a bit. To make her feel like she means something, to help her enjoy her life, instead of just wasting all her time working. Being an agent is important to her and she knows that will never change, but other priorities have made their way to the surface. Not everything was about being the best spy, or stopping the most criminals. It's important for her to live her own life as well.

Sarah had gotten into her car and started to drive to the nearest grocery store. It would be difficult to find a way to do so, but she wanted Chuck in her life. To have someone to talk to. To spend non-work related time with. Someone to come home to or with. To cuddle next to while watching television. The opportunities caused her to smile as she drove.

Her phone ringing broke her free of her own thoughts. Finding her cell-phone in her purse, she found that it wasn't the source of the constant ringing. Still driving, she attempted to search throughout her car for the technology causing the high pitched jingling. Opening the glove box, she saw a small cell-phone. Sarah grabbed it cautiously and inspected it for a quick moment. Deciding to take her chances, she answered it with a hello.

The line was silent for a moment except for a loud crashing in the background.

"Hello?" She repeated, her voice rising.

"Sarah." A familiar, desperate voice whimpered.

"Chuck? Chuck! Are you okay?" Her body tensed as she heard his voice in pain.

"Sarah. Help me." His words filled her with dread.

And all too suddenly, the line went dead.

* * *

A/N: Dun-dun-dunnn. Ah, don't we all love cliff-hangers. Hope you guys enjoyed. Review and express your feelings to me :]. Remember, if you have some free time, go back to the last chapter and scan through. Find one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite movies. Since I'm not sure how many people read this second authors note, I will give another 'secret hint' ;]. The main actor/actress in the movie is dead. If anyone decides to answer do it in the form of... EX) Titanic. 'I'll never let go'. That isn't the real answer obviously, but the idea is plain and simple. Alright, thanks for playing! :D


	8. The Disappearing Act

A/N: Sorry this took so long, just been busy near the holiday season. But this way, you guys get a Christmas present! Big thanks to GladiusGrim and lapini85 for the help this chapter. Happy holidays!

Disclaimer: I don't own none of it.

* * *

Chapter 8: The Disappearing Act

July 29, 2009

Glendale, California

Sarah's Hotel Room

10:45 pm.

Sarah rushed into her hotel room, mind racing, unsure of what to expect; the only thing she was sure of, was that whatever happened was bad. Slamming the door shut behind her, Sarah looked hesitantly around the room hoping to find Chuck lying peacefully on her bed. Instead, she heard a loud groan fill the room. The sound was so terrible; it brought so much pain to her heart. How you could grow so close to someone in such a short amount of time was incredible to her. Rushing towards the sound of agonized moaning, she found Chuck sprawled on the floor, hands rapidly pounding against his head. He bit back a groan before she could reach him, his back arched as his legs flailed against the floor; his face was red, his eyes squeezed closed.

Chuck's realization of the outside world was rapidly diminishing as his mind pulsed. He was an inconsiderable amount of seconds away before he fell into peaceful unconsciousness. The one thing stopping this was the sensation of a needle being stabbed directly into the center of his chest. Chuck's whole body went limp and his mind was snapped back into the real world. His eyes remained closed as the Intersect-caused meltdown seemingly drained even the energy to flick open his own eyelids. His ears weren't tuned in to anything except for the constant, quiet ticking of his watch. His senses eventually became aware of their surroundings and Chuck heard a voice-quiet at first, then louder- and he suddenly acknowledged who it was; Sarah. Before he knew it, his eyes were opening to the sound of her voice.

Sarah sighed in relief when she saw Chuck's deep, brown eyes blink open. "Chuck." She whispered and rubbed her hand against her forehead. "What the hell was that?"

Blinking away the slight nausea and oncoming headache, Chuck answered, "I...don't...know." He paused several times to either catch his breath or think back to what exactly happened. He had never experienced something so painful, that made him feel so weak and out of control. The only thing he knew was that somehow it must be linked to the Intersect. Pictures, videos, and files all from the Intersect stormed his brain all at once. It was as if he was in a room crowded with people and every person was yelling something different at him. He couldn't take in any information unless he attempted to focus on one bit of the attack, but it was close to an impossible task. All of the different information was thrown at him like voices screaming, pierced his mind and got rid of all of his self control.

Chuck started to get up, but was immediately forced downward again. "Where do you think you're going?" Sarah asked, surprised that he tried to get up in the first place.

"I have to go." Chuck groaned still trying to get up. When he was pushed, a little more forcefully this time to the ground, he sighed. "At least let me make a call." He pleaded with his deep, brown eyes looking into her worried blue ones.

After several moments of consideration, Sarah gave in and let him make his call. She helped him inch his way towards the bed so he could have something to lean on. Still a little uneasy, she left him alone.

* * *

Stephen Bartowski was finishing up on some of his work and getting ready to receive several hours of sleep. Before he reached his bedroom, a loud ringing came from his pocket. Grabbing his phone, he found a picture of his son on the screen. "Secure." He answered.

"Secure." Chuck responded weakly. He took a deep breath and continued. "Dad, I don't know what happened to me. It's the Intersect."

"Son, what happened?" Stephen asked, sounding more concerned now than ever.

Breathing heavily, Chuck replied, "I-I don't know. I was just lying down and it hit me. I started flashing, but not on one thing. All this information was just-..." Stopping to once again catch his breath, he finished, "...overwhelming my brain. It was if I was having an Intersect-caused seizure."

"Where are you?"

Chuck laughed weakly, "That's a funny story..."

* * *

Shaw was strapped into a metal chair in the middle of a Fulcrum Interrogation room. Arms and ankles cuffed to the chair refraining him from moving. He'd been sitting there for at least an hour, but he couldn't be sure because he was locked in a room with no windows and nothing to tell time with. Daniel was squirming to shift his weight slightly so he could regain some of the feeling in his thighs, but stopped immediately when he heard a creaking door open from behind him. He absorbed what little light escaped into the room, and so suddenly, it was gone as the door slammed shut.

Cold, delicate hands were placed atop his shoulders and he attempted to look backwards to see who was behind him. Unfortunately, the restraints held him back and he was unaware of what was to come. The hands traveled down his arms and they automatically tensed even though his face remained completely neutral. As the hands retracted from his arms, a face came into his view. It was _her_. The same girl that kidnapped him, indirectly threatened his mother, and drugged his partner.

"Hey, Danny." She said while her hand slid down his chest. He growled in response. "We came up with a plan for you, isn't that great?"

Shaw gazed up at her with hatred in his eyes. "Where's Casey?" He demanded.

"Ah, yes, Major John Casey, NSA. He's still in the hospital; the drugs have worn off by now. And everyone thinks you have been taken in for some scans, to get a thorough examination, which is why you'll be back in the hospital in about a half an hour."

Daniel waited expectantly for her to continue with Fulcrum's plan. After a few moments of silence and her playing with her hair, he spoke up, "That's it?"

A faint laugh escaped her lips and she continued, "Of course not! You and me, we're going to be a couple."

Incredulously, Daniel said, "What makes you think-" He was cut off by a picture shoved onto his lap.

Sudden anger took over his whole being and his muscles tightened, his stomach dropped, and most of all he was scared; not that he would show it. His arms and legs pulled against the restrains. "If you lay a finger on her, I'll make you suffer! You'll wish I'd put you out of your fucking misery! You stupid bi-"

"No need for name calling, Mommy's boy. That's no way to start our life together. The way it's going to go is that you're going to cooperate and be my boyfriend and your mom stays safe. That way I can sneak into your secret base and collect all of your information on the Intersect. And if anyone decides to try anything sneaky, then your mom, Nora Baker, is going to die. Understand?" Towards the end her voice got hard and demanding and by the look in his eyes, she knew that he was putty in her hands.

* * *

Chuck was now laying on the couch, resting until his parents got there. Sarah wouldn't allow him to drive home, neither was he allowing her to drive him home. He liked her a lot, and he was starting to trust her, but he wasn't prepared to give her the chance to find out where he lived. Instead, his parents were going to come into her hotel room, probably with guns in hand, to retrieve him. While he was waiting, Sarah went to the store to get something to eat for the both of them. His parents would be here by the time she got back, so he made sure he was ready to go. The last thing Chuck needed was a confrontation between his parents and Sarah; to prevent this, he needed to get out as fast as possible.

Getting off the couch, he made his way to the door and left her hotel room and probably her life. This was a perfect example of why he can't be with her. They come from opposite worlds and having a relationship would only put himself, his parents, and her in danger. Chuck wasn't ready to take that chance, not after this incident. As much as he was enjoying spending time with someone other than himself, there was no way that this is going to end happily. In one case, Sarah would get fired for neglecting her duties and assisting a criminal. Or Sarah could come to her senses and decide to turn him in which would lead to his lockup in a small room with no windows, or sign of life. The choice was between enjoying his life for the first time since he was six, or to go back to his miserable, illegal life. The decision should have been obvious, but he knew doing the former would only make everyone else's lives worse, and he couldn't do that to his family or Sarah.

While descending in the elevator, Chuck assessed the situation with his parents. How would they react when they saw him? Angry, probably because of the fact that he was spending time in the hotel room of a CIA agent. They weren't fond of any government agencies, but their least favorite was the CIA. Intrigued would be his father's reaction; anytime he could try to fix or tinker with an object was a good time for him, even if the object was his son.

The elevator doors opened and he casually, yet perceptively, walked out. Making sure neither Sarah, nor any other agents on her team saw him, he exited the hotel with a sprained ankle, a throbbing headache, and a once again, a lonely heart.

* * *

A week later...

Sarah slumped in a chair, managed to figuratively drown herself with excessive amounts of paperwork. Files were haphazardly strewn on her desk as she attempted to escape from every element of her life other than work. Not that she was doing the team much good either; re-reading and filing old reports wasn't the most progressive job she could be doing, but it helped relieve her mind of anything.

The worst part about all of this was that it was a Saturday. Ever since Chuck had disappeared a week ago, Sarah didn't know what to do with herself. What was she supposed to do? All she had before Chuck was work, and now that he's gone work was all she had. Her monotonous life was back to normal, if you could call a spy's life filled with guns, drug dealers, and super computers monotonous. Sarah had only known Chuck for a short amount of time, so it wasn't the end of the world now that he was gone, but ever since she knew what it was like not being just a spy, it was harder to go back to what her life was before.

It didn't matter how much work Sarah tried to hide under, she was unable to escape her own thoughts. The worst part was that those thoughts always led to Chuck. _Hey, Walker._ She was so desperate to see him again, she was hearing his voice. _Sarah, are you okay?_ How could she have gotten this 'love struck' in a matter of a few days with him? _Sarah?_

A hand shaking her shoulder woke Sarah out of her nostalgic state. Her head whipped around as her arm lashed out and clasped the man's wrist.

"Whoa, Sarah, it's just me." Daniel cried out, while detaching Sarah's death grip from his wrist.

A range of emotions ran over Sarah's face, starting with surprised, then disappointed, and a facade of happiness was put on last. "Sorry, Shaw, I was just distracted by...work." She said while pointing to the array of papers and folders scattered across the desk.

Nodding, he sat backwards in the chair next to her, resting his arms on the back of it. "As much as I'd hate to tear you away from all this stimulating information, I wanted to ask if you'd go out to lunch with me?" When her facial expression went to straight out confusion, Shaw clarified. "Not on a date with _me_, but like a double date. My girlfriend has been wanting to meet some of my colleagues, so I thought you could bring Bryce since you two are back together."

A much higher level of confusion made way onto Sarah's face. Since when were she and Bryce back together? How had Daniel gotten this impression in the first place? When did he get a girlfriend? "Bryce and I are _not_ back together."

"Really? Because on the phone the other day when we talked, I thought I heard Bryce in the background." He said accusingly.

Not knowing what to say, Sarah blurted out, "It was a stripper." Astonished at her own words, she continued, "A mark, it was a mark that was a stripper. I had to...arrest him." As she continued to speak, her words grew flimsier and more unbelievable. Struggling to change the subject as fast as possible, she asked, "When do you want to do lunch?"

"Is tomorrow good?"

"Perfect." Sarah sighed, realizing she was in for more than she could handle.

* * *

Bryce woke up sore and in a daze. He was lying on the couch that he had passed out on the night before. Fortunately, his head wasn't throbbing as much as it had before; it was just a low burning accompanied by a large bump on the side of his head, no doubt from one of the times the Intersect has caused him to fall ungracefully to the floor. Checking his watch, Bryce found that it was almost eleven o'clock. He yawned as he lazily got up and left his room.

It was the last time that he was going to have an Intersect meltdown alone. He wanted someone he could talk to, someone to take care of him. He wanted someone to fix his brain; carefully, not barbarically. Bryce knew Sarah could do that and would. That's why he needed to tell her what was happening to him, why he was so cruel to her for so long, and how sorry he was. It was time for him to apologize for how big of a jerk he was, it was time for him to get his girl back.

Walking across the hall, he knocked a few times on Sarah's door and awaited an answer. She cracked it open slightly, her body blocking any sight into the room behind her.

A confused look crossed over her face as she asked, "Bryce?"

"Hey," He said as he rubbed a hand over his face and into his hair, "Can I come in? I really need to talk to you." Bryce's eyes were raw; nothing was blocking his thoughts, feelings. He didn't want to hide anything from Sarah anymore; it was time to come clean.

Normally, Sarah would have just told him no and shut the door. But the look on Bryce's face was serious, even honest; so unlike the Bryce she had gotten use to. She couldn't pass up this opportunity. Taking a few moments to think it through, she said "Just let me go pick up a few things. Stay here, I'll be right back." She smiled and shut the door. Bryce waited in the hallway leaning against her door frame.

* * *

Chuck was slumped lazily on his bed. He'd been like this all week; ever since he left Sarah's and got a mile long lecture from his parents. Well, his mother primarily, while his father sat in the background going over the Intersect files trying to find a flaw in the design. Every word his mother had said rang through his mind.

_"Chuck, how could you do this? You know I was part of the CIA. What would happen if they caught you and we couldn't get you out? You'd be trapped in a government cell somewhere off of U.S. soil where they could torture all of the information out of you! Is that what you want? When they found out you're my son, they would use you to find me! That is all the agent wanted to do! She didn't want to be with you because of you! She wanted to be with you so she could be promoted." Sighing, she continued, "Chuck, you're naïve and young, but I need you to trust me. I was that agent once, and I would have done exactly what she did; anything to complete a mission. Unless it means being with your family, that's the only exception."_

Sarah couldn't have just been using him. How would she have planned all of those coincidental meets? The only way any of that was possible was if she was a step ahead of him the whole time. But he had planned everything so thoroughly. Either she was sneakier than he imagined, or her whole team was behind this. If that was the case then he should be happy he left, but why wasn't he? Because he knew that she didn't plan it and that she wasn't just another CIA agent. She was Sarah Walker.

* * *

Sarah was sitting impatiently with Bryce on her couch, waiting for him to say whatever he wanted to confess to her. After a considerable amount of foot tapping and too many glances towards the exit, she blurted out, "Bryce, what'd you want to tell me?"

Sighing, he spoke up for the first time since he had gotten in her hotel room. "You can't tell anyone; not Beckman, Shaw, Casey, no one." She nodded her head in response wishing he would quit the suspenseful act. She hadn't been this close to Bryce without wanting to strangle him, in months. He seemed to be so innocent and kind, which is so different from every other time she was with him.

"I won't tell anyone." She said, convincing him to go on.

"I've been having these...problems. They have to do with the Intersect. It just started a little while ago." He paused for a moment, trying to find a way to phrase his next sentence. "I get piercing pains that shoot through my brain and put me through so much agony that I pass out, I have uncontrollable emotions that get tested every time I get rejected by you, I have anger issues that cause me to become so furious that I could kill someone. All of this is caused by the Intersect and I'm not sure how much longer I can handle it." Bryce gazed into Sarah's eyes hoping to find a good reaction.

Sarah was silent, unsure of what to say. She was stunned for several minutes, putting the pieces together. Bryce was having meltdowns caused by the Intersect, and they sound exactly like what Chuck had experienced when he was here. Chuck had gotten past a NSA agent to get into a government-run secret base. He had defeated all of team O Mellor, including her, which was not an easy task to accomplish. He had stolen different pieces to put together the Intersect, but he must have already had it before he started those missions. Trying to make another one could have been what he was doing, or getting it to his team for them to study. They could see how fast the government's Intersect was progressing. All of this was starting to make sense for the first time. If anyone had suggested this to her before Bryce had come over, she would have thought they were crazy. But now, everything is different.

"Sarah." Bryce said, releasing her from the distraction that was her own thoughts.

She turned her body towards his and gave him a hug. The first form intimacy, or even friendship that they had shared in a long time. She whispered into his ear, "I'll help you through this; I won't make you do it alone."

Bryce hugged back, savoring the moment. "Thank you, Sarah." Slowly pulling away, he said, "I have one more thing to tell you." Sarah mentally prepared herself for whatever else he had to say.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I hurt you and that I treated you so poorly. After I got the Intersect, I was stuck in this bubble that left everyone I cared about on the outside and I'm sorry for that. I ignored you and left you alone after everything that we'd gone through. I need you in my life, Sarah." Bryce looked into her deep blue eyes and moved his head closer until they were almost touching. Sarah was so astonished at this new Bryce, at this apology, at everything. When she didn't pull away, Bryce placed his lips on hers and kissed her.

* * *

A/N: I'm getting pretty good at these cliffhangers, huh? Merry Christmas all!


	9. Love to Hatred Turned

Thanks to GladiusGrim for the help on this chapter as well as lapini85 for the title.

Disclaimer: I don't own it.

Chapter 9: Love to Hatred Turned.

August 5, 2009

Glendale, California

Sarah's Hotel Room

11:52 pm.

Sarah watched as Bryce inched closer and closer to her, his lips centering in on hers. It was as if she was watching as an observer, not from her own body. The only problem was that it wasn't all happening in slow motion like it did in the movies. No, instead it was going incredibly fast, too fast. There wasn't enough time for Sarah to realize what she was doing, letting Bryce kiss her. When his lips settled on hers, she sat immobile for a moments and then she pulled away. This wasn't who she was, she wasn't Bryce's girlfriend. She wasn't even his friend, why would she suddenly jump into his arms like he was her knight in shining armor? Just because he admitted his tragedy to her, doesn't mean that it changed anything.

Sarah put her hand on Bryce's chest, lightly pushing him away. His face was first surprised and then forgiving. He knew it must be difficult for her to just accept his apology.

"Sarah, it's okay, I won't hurt you again." He brought his hand up to her chin and lifted her head so she was looking at him. "I'm in love with you, Sarah Walker." His head slowly moved closer to hers.

Sarah pushed harder on his chest this time, creating a larger space between them. "Bryce sto-."

"Shh," Bryce's finger lifted to her lips to silence her. His other hand trailed down her back. Once again, he brought his head towards hers, attempting to kiss her.

With a speed so fast that Bryce couldn't react, Sarah shot her hand up and slapped him across the face. His hands automatically released her and went to his cheek. Jumping up from the couch, she took several steps back from him and awaited his reaction.

"What the _hell_, Sarah?" Bryce's eyes were becoming less gentle, more fiery.

"I don't want to be with you. I'll help you with the Intersect, but that is all." Sarah paused, realizing that she couldn't be anything more to him. She had never been in love with Bryce and she didn't think she could love anyone. Not when everyone she had ever loved left her alone; her father, mother, and sister. They all left her to fend for herself becoming some lifeless monster. That was all she was anymore; a spy that could go on a mission, kill who needed to be killed, seduce those who needed to be seduced, and complete the mission. She had been losing herself for the past five years; no longer did she do her job to help people, but just to finish another day. The more she learned about Chuck and watched him save her team, his enemies, she found herself searching more and more for the girl she was when she wanted to help people and her country. "I can't be anything more than your partner."

"But Sarah, I'm in love with you. I've always been in love with you."

"No you're not." Sarah looked into his eyes and saw that he wasn't in love with her. He was in love with the idea of always having someone to serve to his needs, to listen to him when he felt like talking, to be there for him. But the fact about love is that it goes both ways. It's when you are willing to do anything to be with that person, you'd protect them under any circumstances. Bryce wasn't willing to do this, he just wants someone to be there for him, but he doesn't want anything holding him back. "Bryce, you're not in love with anyone but yourself."

Bryce couldn't do anything but stare at her in disbelief. Nothing would come out of his mouth. Sarah walked towards her door and slowly opened it. Knowing that she wanted him to leave, Bryce got up from her couch and, ego in check, walked out the door. Sarah looked into his deep blue eyes one more time before saying, "Goodbye, Bryce."

Bryce stalked down the hallway closing the distance between himself and the elevator. _Goodbye, Bryce._ How could Sarah say something like that? At first, the only emotion this brought was sadness, but now anger was erupting from his inner core. He had tried so hard to be kind and gentle with her, and what does she do? Stabs him in the back. Bryce wasn't ready for betrayal.

Once in the elevator, he pressed the button to shut it down and then bombarded the walls with punch after punch until his knuckles were raw and hands soaked with blood. When he couldn't kill the wall anymore with his fists, the duel was continued with his feet. Finally, Bryce went limp and he leaned against the wall. His body slumped down to the floor and he sat with his arms resting on his knees.

Sarah said that he didn't love her, that he only loved himself. If that's what she thought about him, then she would have to pay.

August 6, 2009

Glendale, California

Bartowski Home Base

3:35 pm.

"Mary, are you there?" Stephen Bartowski called to his wife while typing perpetually. Through a set of large glass panes, Chuck sat alone strapped to a metal chair by multicolored wires. Sensors were attached to his head and trailed down to his bare chest. A large monitor was hooked up in front of him with images from the Intersect randomly appearing, forcing him to flash. Stephen safely behind the glass monitored Chuck's responses to search for some abnormalities. Chuck's father was doing everything he could think of to solve the complication that happened with the Intersect. He was only partially doing it all for the sake of the super-computer he built, but mostly for his son. The biggest problem was that he hadn't actually witnessed what had happen to Chuck, so he couldn't know exactly what was going on.

Mary stepped towards the chair Stephen was sitting in and put her hands on his shoulders. So familiar with her touch, he didn't flinch or tense. "Could you tell Charles that we're done for the day? I don't want to stress his brain too much. Also, I need to look at this data and see if I can find any information that can help our son. But I don't know, Mary, nothing appears any different."

She squeezed her hands lightly on his shoulders. "You are the smartest man I know, if anyone can solve this, it's you." He watched as she opened the door to the room on the other side of the glass. She was almost to Chuck when his computer monitor started flashing and an alarm went off. Chuck's heart rate sped up almost instantaneously and his blood pressure jumped. His hands gripped the arms of the chair as his body convulsed.

Mary ran immediately to her son, but was unsure of what to do. Her head snapped back towards her husband, waiting for him to make some sort of move to help Chuck. Instead of running into the room like she had, Stephen was trying to fix this using technology. Knowing he had become much too dependent on his computers, Mary yelled, "Get the med-kit! Now, Stephen!"

Obediently, he retrieved the kit and ran it to his wife. She dug through it until she found a sedative. Stephen clutched his son's shaking arm and pushed it against the arm of the chair. While her husband held Chuck's forearm in place, Mary stuck the needle into the underneath of his elbow. Chuck's body went still and he lay unconscious in the chair.

August 6, 2009

Los Angeles, California

Diner

3:58 pm.

"Don't you think this is a bad idea? Meeting my fellow agents will just put your new cover in danger." Daniel walked towards the diner's doors with his hand resting on the Fulcrum agent/girlfriend's back. She was slightly leaning on him, one hand on his chest, the other on his back.

"Why would I be worried? If something goes wrong, it's your family that's going to pay, not mine." She said lightly and smiled as she saw a scowl form on Shaw's face. "But that shouldn't be a problem, because no one's going to find out who I am. Right now, I'm your stunning, infatuated girlfriend, and you're my heroic, loyal boyfriend. If you're as good an actor as an agent, then we should be fine."

"You're pretty-ass cocky, you know." He stopped a few feet away from the entrance of the diner and pulled her into his embrace. She played along, creating a solid cover for anyone watching. Daniel placed a kiss to the top of her head with one hand entwined in her hair. He whispered slowly, "If you do anything to the rest of my team-" Pulling hard on the hair he clutched in his fist, her head snapped backwards and she concealed a yelp from escaping her throat. "-and you'll regret it, understand?" Shaw detached his hand from her hair and rested that arm on her shoulders.

She put her arm around his waist and dug her nails into his side, "Yes, honey."

Chuck was running through an inescapable dreamland, incredibly confused and undeniably terrified. The street in front of his office was empty of all life, but him. Running full speed down the middle of the road until he reached the intersection, he stopped dead in his tracks. No cars and no people were anywhere to be found. Chuck ran back towards the front of his office, but continued until he reached another street. No one was there. He dropped down to his knees and turned his head back and forth, desperately trying to find someone, anyone, to prove he wasn't going insane. When no one appeared, he screamed at the top of his lungs, hoping for someone to hear him. No one did.

Chuck pushed himself up from his knees and wiped his hands on his pants. Staring at his office, he jogged towards it and pulled open the door. As he expected, he stood in an empty office. On his desk, he yanked up his phone and punched in his father's phone number. It rang. His father didn't pick up. Grabbing the whole phone from the desk, he chucked it at the wall as he yelled out in anger. Once he reeled in his anger, the computer was next in his site. Clicking quickly on the icon for the Internet, he waited impatiently for ads and celebrity gossip to fill his screen. Instead, the only thing that came up was the words 'Server not found.' His anger spiked and he pushed everything, computer included off his desk. Kicking the desk repeatedly until it tipped over, his gaze flicked upward as he heard the door open. The person standing in the doorway was none other than Sarah Walker. "Sarah! Where is everyone?"

"Gone." She took several steps forward, completely ignoring the mess Chuck had made of his desk.

"Well, why are we the only ones left?" Chuck asked cautiously, more confused now than ever.

She ignored his question and stopped when she was several feet away from him. "I'm a spy, Chuck."

He nodded obviously, "Yeah, I know. It's not exactly a surprise."

"Do you know what spies do, Chuck?" Sarah's face was flat, emotionless. Robotic, even.

Chuck shrugged, unsure of what she was talking about, waiting for her to continue.

"They kill." A devilish smile formed on her lips as a gun appeared in her hand and pointed directly at his head. Without any hesitation, she pulled the trigger.

Sarah pulled the door to the small diner open and looked both ways until she spotted who she was looking for. Booths lined the large windows and a counter ran the length of the building, separating the kitchen from the dining area. A young blonde wore an apron and was working behind the counter. A middle-aged waitress was working her way around all the booths with a pleasant smile on her face. On her right, Sarah found Daniel and his brunette girlfriend in the very last booth. He waved and smiled at her, motioning for Sarah to come over. She wasn't thrilled about being the third-wheel to Daniel and his girlfriend, but would do anything to help him preserve his cover. Sarah put on her best performance as a consultant for a security firm and smiled as she arrived at the table.

Daniel and his girlfriend stood up and greeted Sarah. "Hey, Sarah, this is Jessica. Jessica, this is Sarah."

Sarah spoke up first, "It's great to meet you, and I've heard great things."

"Same here, but Danny never mentioned how pretty you were." Sarah smiled and sat down at the bench across from them. All of them ordered made small talk, every one of them lying through their teeth.

"So, Jessica, where do you work?" Sarah asked politely.

"I own this small restaurant downtown. It-"

"Hey, guys." Bryce said a little too loudly as he pushed Sarah into the booth and sat down next to her. Taking several of her French fries, he took a bite of half of them and put the rest back on her plate. Still chewing, he joined into the conversation. "I wasn't invited to this little date?" He said in a playful manner.

"Sorry, Bryce." Daniel said. "We were just enjoying our lunch break. I would've invited you, I just-"

Bryce cut him off, "It's no problem, I just wanted to see how my Sarah was doing." He lazily placed his arm around her shoulders.

Sarah tensed and cleared her throat. "Do we have to have a repeat of last night, Bryce?" Her voice was quiet, but fierce.

"Oh, no. I just wanted to give you one last chance. But since you obviously haven't changed your mind, then I am truly sorry." Bryce pulled a handgun out of jacket, but held it low so no one could see it. The silencer on the end prevented much noise from escaping as he shot Sarah in the side of her torso. Swiftly, he placed the gun back into his jacket and got up from the booth. He nodded his head to Shaw and left the diner. Instead of chasing after Bryce, like he knew he should have, his feelings for Sarah got in the way and he ran to her side. Commotion was now stirring in the diner, some people leaving immediately while others coming to help.

The waitress from behind the counter spoke up, "I called 911, an ambulance is on the way."

Daniel ripped off his button-up shirt, leaving him wearing just a tank-top. Applying pressure to Sarah's wound, he said, "Stay with me, Sarah. You'll be okay. Help is on the way."

Jessica saw how kind and careful Daniel was acting towards the injured Sarah, and she felt a twinge of guilt about what she was doing to him and his team. She knew Fulcrum had its reasons for getting this information, but using Shaw like this was starting to feel very wrong. As quickly as this guilt came, it disappeared when she heard her phone ring.

"Hello." She answered.

"What's going on in there, agent Ross?"

"I think this is something better explained in person. I'll meet you at the rendezvous."

"Understood."

The line went silent and she hung up the phone. She leaned over Daniel and said, "I'll be in touch." Ignoring her, he kept whispering incoherently to Sarah.

Sarah's face was astonished when she first realized that her partner had shot her. Her mind filled so quickly with nothing in particular. It swam from thought to thought, nothing meaningful in her path of thinking. Until her mind clutched onto a memory of Chuck. Chuck and her sitting on the stone wall, his arms enveloped around her. His soothing voice keeping her emotions at bay.

In the background, Sarah could hear Shaw's voice, but soon it was gone and she was oblivious to the outside world. It was just her and Chuck.

Bryce strolled out of the diner, unnoticed by everyone. On the way to his car, he got incredibly dizzy. Everything had a twin in his new vision and the ground was moving like the ocean. Walking sideways, instead of forward, he ran into the side of a brick building. Using the wall to inch himself forward, he fell into an alleyway next to the building. Bryce used his arms to pull himself forward a few feet, but his body quickly gave up. He passed out in that alley, his insanity subsiding for now.

Chuck woke up groggy and feeling somewhat cross-eyed. Getting up soon proved to be a challenge when he became light-headed almost instantly as he tried to sit up. He found that he was in his bed, and couldn't remember what had happened to get him there. All the signs of a hang-over were there, but no mysterious women were in the room, so that was a plus. Chuck rested his head on his pillow and shut his eyes, trying to think of what happened before he passed out. All he could remember was that his father was performing some tests on him and the Intersect. And that's when he had the meltdown.

Slowly, Chuck got up from his bed and waddled out of his room; the sleep still not totally out of his muscles. He yawned a 'good morning' to his mother and went directly to the kitchen. He rubbed his eyes and grabbed a bowl.

"How are you feeling?" Mary Bartowski said as she rubbed her hands up and down his arms.

Stifling a yawn, he said, "Tired, heads a little sore. I'll be fine." Chuck grabbed a box of Apple Jacks and poured a bowl.

"Your father's downstairs in the base, working on a way to fix the Intersect. I want to help in some way, but computers aren't my forte. However, I am here to talk." Mary's voice was sincere and calm.

"Thanks, mom, but I'm good." Chuck sleepily walked past her to grab the milk out of the fridge.

"I was hoping you would make this easy on both of us by just talking to me, but I guess not. We need to talk about you and the CIA agent." When he tried to interrupt her, she said, "No, let me finish, Charles." He sighed and let her continue. "At first I thought you just wanted to go with this girl because you were trying to get away from me and your father. But now I understand you have feelings for this girl."

"What brought you to this epiphany?" Chuck queried.

"You were talking in your sleep last night, and the name Sarah Walker was said more than once. If you're dreaming about her, than she must be more than a toy to amuse you for a while."

"So much more." He whispered to himself.

Mary brought her hand to her son's back and said, "I know your father won't approve, and I don't feel great about it either, but if you care about this Sarah Walker, then you can't just let her go."

Chuck smiled up at his mother in thanks. She always did know the right thing to say. He took a bite of cereal and watched as his dad walked up the stairs. "Any news?"

A sympathetic look crossed over Stephen's face. "Sorry, son. I diagnosed the issue as an Interface Cascade Failure. It seems to be a malfunction with the core of the Intersect computer that isn't syncing with your brain. So far, I haven't found any evidence as to why this is happening to you."

Chuck got up and took a step towards his father. Unexpectedly, he embraced his dad in a hug. "Thank you. Now go get some rest, you've been tinkering on my brain patterns all night. Grab some shut eye."

With a pat on the back for his son, Stephen left for his bedroom.

Daniel sat in the white, bland waiting room, hoping for some positive news. Bryce had already been brought into Castle, being held in a secure holding cell. It was one less weight he had to carry on his shoulders. He didn't know how something like this could have happened. How did Bryce become so insane that he shot his own partner in front of at least twenty people? He got the hint that Sarah had turned Bryce down the night before, but what took over Bryce to cause him to do something that crazy? Shaw was sifting through all these thoughts in his mind, hoping to find an answer that made something close to sense. Unfortunately, nothing was at all logical. Bryce was a trained agent, taught to act professional and intelligently. What he did in that diner was far from professional or intelligent.

"How's Walker?" Casey asked as he walked awkwardly into the waiting room. It was obvious that he wasn't comfortable, nor used to this sort of situation.

"I don't know. The doctors haven't said a word besides that she's in surgery." Daniel said in a voice that was somewhat nervous and stressed.

"Sarah's strong. She'll pull through." After a moment of silence, Casey asked. "Who's the doctor?"

Shaw could tell that Casey was just trying to keep him talking, distracted. Luckily, it was somewhat working. "I've never heard of him before, but his name is Doctor Woodcomb."


	10. The Deadly Metal Door

A/N: Hey guys, sorry this chapter took an incredible amount of time. I decided to take a sort of writer's break to get my thoughts on the story together. Hopefully you guys like the chapter. Like usual, a big thanks to GladiusGrim for all the help and ideas on the chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Chuck- that's probably for the better...

* * *

August 7, 2009  
Glendale, California  
Castle  
8:05 am.

Casey, healed and ready for work, stood tall and firm in front of a television screen filled with the face of General Diane Beckman. The only other people in Castle were several officers acting as guards, and Bryce Larkin. The monitor next to Beckman's face showed video feed of Larkin pacing back and forth in his cell. Normally, the government would have just thrown him in the psychiatric ward, but the computer in his brain changed things up a bit.

"Major Casey." Beckman said, nodding at him through the screen. "It is good to have you back. Bryce Larkin will be locked in a cell in Castle until we can find a way to remove the Intersect from his brain. He must have no knowledge of what is going on outside his cell doors. Bryce Larkin is no longer part of the CIA and we must take the precautions to ensure the safety of our information. There will be guards posted outside of his doors at all times, but I need to you assure that no information is being leaked to Mr. Larkin. Understood Major?"

"Yes ma'am." Casey gave a professional nod and waited for the General's face to flicker off the screen.

* * *

Chuck was slumped in front of his computer, watching for the thousandth time, Sarah, being wheeled into the hospital on a gurney. Doctors were surrounding her, making her face almost impossible to see. But when he did catch a glimpse of her face, he winced at her pale, ghostly appearance.

Mary Bartowski came up behind him and put her hands on his shoulders. She was the one who had gotten the security tapes for him in the first place and she knew he wasn't handling the situation well. He hadn't moved out of his seat for the last two hours since she showed him the security feed. She had found out about the shooting on the news. Most of the time, she wouldn't have thought twice about a shoot out in Los Angeles, California, but the fact that it happened in a small, family owned diner made her curiosity spike. After looking into some police records and scanning hospital camera feeds, she found what she was looking for; a name and a face. Both of which belonged to none other than Sarah Walker.

Chuck didn't turn his head to see whose hands were placed upon his shoulders. He already knew it was his mother and couldn't bear to take his eyes off his computer screen. Watching her go into the hospital time after time was as close as he could get to her. He knew if he went to her hospital room, he would be attacked by multiple agents. The only way he could be close to her was by watching her video a countless number of times until he knew she would be okay. In between rounds of viewing the same clip, he checked to see what her condition was. When he found that she was in a coma, the urge to kill exploded inside of him. All he wished to do was inflict pain upon her shooter. Chuck was completely capable of finding the name of the gunman, but he hadn't taken the time, nor did he want to. Instead, he asked his mother, knowing that she knew the answer.

"Who shot her?" He asked simply, not wanting his voice to jump in pitch, or crack. He wasn't in love with Sarah Walker, nor did he know her as well as he wished, but he wanted to. He wanted to spend time with her talking about unimportant things, to eat pizza or hamburgers whenever they didn't feel like cooking, to watch bad sci-fi movies when there was nothing else on television. Ever since he was a kid, Chuck wanted a normal, easy life, but the only thing he has ever had the chance to have was a spy life. A spy life filled with loneliness and deceit.

Mary's hands tensed on his shoulders, unsure of how to proceed with the situation. Her son was in a delicate state and she didn't want to trigger any unneeded anger. After a brief pause, she decided to be completely honest and just tell him. No stalling, or deflection. "Bryce Larkin." Her voice was quiet, barely loud enough for him to hear.

Mary expected him to jump from his seat, to scream in anger. He did neither. His body remained still and calm. Chuck clicked out of the video that had been playing on his monitor, opening a search to find where exactly Bryce Larkin was. He hadn't said a word in response to his mother.

"Charles, he's secure in their government base. He's not going to get away with it, don't worry." She gave him a reassuring squeeze of his shoulders and a kiss on his head. Then she whispered in her son's ear, "You can go and see her."

"We both know that's impossible."

"Chuck, they don't have any security posted in the hospital. They don't need it. Go and see her."

"She's in a coma, it won't matter."

"You can believe that if you want, but we both know it's not true." She gave him a pat on his shoulders and left him to stir in his own thoughts.

Bryce Larkin, CIA agent. Bryce Larkin, skilled gunman. Bryce Larkin, trained fighter. Bryce Larkin, attempted murderer. One day he is locking criminals up in this cell, now the doors have locked him inside and he doesn't have the key. It wasn't bad enough that he was sealed inside this concrete box, but his head was throbbing, too. He staggered up towards the bulletproof glass doors and knocked on the window. A guard standing nearby didn't move a muscle. Instead, he kept his stance; gun in hand, facial expression grim.

"Hello?" Bryce yelled through the doors, hoping to get a response.

Silence.

"My head is killing me. Do you have any aspirin?"

Silence.

He kicked the door out of frustration and went to sit on the metal bench. His life was over.

The Intersect had ruined his life.

* * *

Stephen Bartowski had hit a wall. He understood the human brain as well as technology, yet he didn't seem to be able to comprehend the two of them combined. He had studied the scans of his son's Intersected brain for hours at a time. Not once was he able to find any abnormalities. Instead, he found a completely healthy brain.

Frustrated and exhausted, he stood from his chair and walked towards the small fridge in the corner of the room. He grabbed a cup of water and thought about the scans. He had compared Chuck's brain to other brain scans and the only difference was the addition of the Intersect. By breaking into the government's Intersect files, he retrieved their human Intersect's brain scans. Like before, no huge abnormalities were present. Everything seemed normal.

Attempting to clear his head, Stephen paced back and forth in his small office. This strategy didn't work. Instead, it made his mind work faster. Just when he was about to give up, he walked towards his monitor and took one last look at Chuck's brain. That's when he saw it. The little black dot in the corner of his brain. By most people, it would probably look like a spec of dust on the computer screen, but Stephen knew it was much more than that. Still standing, he started enlarging the photo, zooming in closer on the spec. It was definitely more than dust.

He brought up a scan of Chuck's brain from when he first got the Intersect and enlarged the photo to the same exact area as the last. Side by side, he compared the two. The little black dot wasn't in the previous picture. Stephen Bartowski was sure he had found the problem, the next step was to create a solution.

* * *

August 8, 2009  
Barstow, California  
Unknown location  
11:39 pm.

Shaw was sitting in the passenger seat of his girlfriend's car. Of course, she wasn't actually his girlfriend, or his friend for that matter. Instead, Jessica Ross was the Fulcrum agent who had captured him without handcuffs, or a locked room. She used threats against his family, which worked undoubtedly better than any restraints would work.

"Shaw?"

He glanced at her, waiting for her to continue.

"It's time for us to go on our first mission together." Her voice was abnormally cheerful and brought his attention directly towards her.

"Mission? You're not serious. You can't be serious." With just a devious smile in return, he ran his hand frustratingly through his hair. "You're serious."

"We're about a mile or so away from what looks like an abandoned house. Inside, the security is some of the best in the area. They have high-tech trackers, transmission blockers, and equipment to copy any hard-drives in a 1-mile radius. We're both going to break in and take a hard-drive copier and a transmission blocker. Understood?"

"Do you have any idea of how we're going to do this?"

"Of course."

"...And you're not going to tell me. Great." The sarcastic remark caused a giggle to emerge from Jessica's lips. Just as quickly as it had come out, she played it off as if nothing had happened. This was the first sign that Shaw had seen that proved Jessica was, in fact, a girl.

* * *

Chuck walked slowly towards the side of the hospital. Wearing a baseball cap and fake glasses, he turned the corner that led him to the right side of the hospital. About twenty feet away, he found a door locked by security monitors. Earlier that day, Chuck had found what room Sarah was staying in, and the easiest way to get their without going through the front entrance. He didn't want to take the chance of running into any government agents while visiting her. Hacking into the security monitor, he got the door open with ease. He went directly towards Sarah's room, making sure he wasn't seen. Finding the room empty, except for a limp, pale body.

Slowly and silently, he opened the door and walked towards her bed. She was so still, she appeared dead. Chuck grabbed a chair and pulled it next to the bed. Sitting down, he lifted his hand and lightly brushed her cheek. In any other situation, she would have had him pinned to the floor before she could open her eyes. But not now. Not a single muscle reacted to his touch. She didn't even flutter and eyelid. He grabbed her hand squeezed lightly.

"You'll wake up. I promise, you will. Because when you do, I'm going to take care of you and make sure no body can hurt you. I don't know how, but I'll make everything okay. I'll make everything okay, Sarah." Silently, he placed a kiss on her forehead. "I don't even know if you can hear me, but if you can, I just want you to know that Bryce Larkin won't go unpunished. I'll make sure of it." This was the last he spoke, but Chuck stayed by her side until he heard a familiar voice coming down the hallway.

Just as silently as he had entered the room, he retreated into a closet. Seconds after he shut the door, he heard the quiet steps of doctor's shoes against the tile floor. Chuck recognized the voice like it was his own. His ear was pressed against the door as he listened to her whisper quietly to herself. It had to be her.

"Doctor Woodcomb, we need you in room 217, immediately."

The doctor quickly left the room. Chuck collapsed against the door. He once again gave himself false hope. His mind was playing tricks on him, why would his sister be here. He wanted to search for her, find her, and run into her embrace. He knew he couldn't, being a spy had it's downfalls-many downfalls- and interacting with his sister would be bad. It would mean lying and sneaking around, something he wasn't ready for. Chuck realized as he leaned against the door of the closet, that he has spent his whole life hiding.

* * *

Jessica Ross, Daniel's Fulcrum partner, stopped the car several buildings away from their target. Popping the trunk, she entered into the dark night and pulled out the equipment she would need. Grabbing a gun, she handed it to Shaw.

"If you shoot me, my superiors will not hear back from me and your mother will die." She said this without hesitation and without looking for any response from Daniel. It was said as more of a reminder than a threat. He heard the reminder loud and clear.

While heading towards the building, Shaw noticed that he had a somewhat at-ease feeling with Jessica. It was like he didn't have to live up to any legacy, or be a super-spy around her. She was someone that he didn't have to take the lead for. She was the boss; he knew it and she knew it. This didn't mean that Daniel trusted her. He didn't trust her as far as he could throw her, but he was starting to feel comfortable around her. Liking her was out of the question, once she threatened his family, there was no way that he could ever grow to like her. As true as this was, he knew he had no choice but to pretend he enjoyed spending time with her and that he was starting to fall in love with this ill-tempered, sarcastic, cruel woman.

They were crouched in some bushes once they reached the building. Since the time was nearing midnight, everything was pitch-black. The moon was the only source of light; using a flashlight would make them stick out like a sore thumb, the exact opposite of what they wanted. Shaw stood watch while Jessica went to disarm the alarms. He could tell that she was well trained in technology, but it still took her about ten minutes to shut down the alarms.

Whispering, she said, "They'll be down for fifteen minutes, tops. Let's go." They entered the building and he let her take the lead. They headed down the hallway, loaded weapons in hand; cautiously stepping, yet with confidence and stealth. Approaching a corner, Jessica held up her hand signaling to Shaw to stop. A rustling of clothes could be heard from around the corner. Without hesitation, she turned the corner, pulled the trigger, and killed the guard.

Usually, Shaw wasn't taken aback by anything, or at least when he was he didn't show it. But now, he stood frozen as he watched the girl in front of him kill a man in cold blood. Sure, he had killed people before; and he had no doubt that these people had a family, friends, a good job, and a lot going for them. But he was told by important people that he had to kill them because they had done bad things and that it would save many people. Unfortunately, it didn't make him feel any better about himself. As he watched this Fulcrum agent kill that guard, he knew that it isn't any different than what he does. She is doing what she is told is right. Powerful people tell her to kill someone and she does it. Just like himself, Sarah, Casey, and Bryce. Just like any other government agent. The General is so intent on taking down Fulcrum, when it is organized the exact same way as the government itself.

Jessica punched him aggressively in the shoulder, "Get your head out of your ass. Come on."

Shaw grumbled to himself in response. She spun on her heel and stopped immediately making him run into her. "You are in no position to be having an attitude with me, Daniel. I need someone to have my back, if you can't do that than I'm not going to be the only one killed. I didn't think I needed to remind you of that every five minutes, but obviously I was wrong. Now wipe that ridiculous look off of your face and be a spy." With these as the last spoken words, they continued through the hallway alert and focused. There was a door at the end of the corridor that left no other place to turn. A hand-print scanner was located next to the door- of course the door couldn't have an old fashioned lock. Instead, Jessica spent another seven, or so minutes getting the door to open. While she was working on this, Shaw found it very strange that there weren't more guards in this building. She had said that it was a very high-security facility, yet he hadn't seen all but one guard. Most places with any amount of important technology or information would be crawling with guards.

Finally, she was successful in getting the door open and she stepped in. Once her foot pressed down on a tile, it sunk inward and the door slid speedily out from the wall. Unfortunately for Shaw, as he was stepping into the room, the metal door clicked into the other side of the wall with his leg in between them. His calf was clasped in a death grip between the wall and door.

Daniel screeched at the top of his lungs. The gun dropped from his hand and the leg he was standing on gave out. Pain coursed through his body. If he didn't know anything else, there was one thing he certain; he was going to die. Everything in his vision became blurry. Between screams, Shaw attempted to yank his leg from the giant metal clamp. The only thing this did was cause more agony to burn through his entire body. His head hit the floor while sweat drenched his hair. Adrenaline was powering his whole body, attempting to get free, to survive.

"Daniel!" A shriek came from the other side of the door. Jessica's hands pummeled against the solid metal. "Dan! Can you hear me?" With only cries of pain in response, she fell to her knees. "Please. Say something." She whispered.

"Help me! Jess!" Shaw's pleas were followed by wails of misery.

"I'll get you out. It'll be okay." She stood and inspected the security monitor attached to the wall. Shaking furiously, she started breaking into the monitor. Instead of the atmosphere being quiet and precise like before, now it was loud and rushed. Now she wasn't trying to open this door to steal government property, but to save Daniel's life.

* * *

August 13, 2009  
Glendale, California  
Sarah's Hospital Room.  
2:39 pm.

Beep...Beep...Beep. Sarah slowly became conscious; the first sense to wake within her was her hearing. The steady beeping of the monitor next to her bed brought her out of her unconscious state. Bringing her hands up to her face she rubbed her eyes free of sleep and tried to sit up. Pain rushed to her midsection and she immediately returned to her former position. Moving her head, she examined her room and found a chair empty, except for a black jacket lying on the back of the chair. A small ounce of hope wished that it was Chuck's jacket in the chair, but that hope was demolished when she heard Casey's voice in the hallway. With his phone up to his ear, he walked into the room and immediately saw Sarah's alert, awake eyes.

Talking into his phone, he said, "I have to go." After a short pause, he said, "Bye"

"Water?" Sarah asked, voice hoarse.

As Casey was pouring her a glass of water, he said, "Good to see you awake, Walker." He handed her the glass and let. He was relieved to see Sarah awake after about four days in a comatose state. The doctor's assured him that she would be fine, but he needed that confirmation of seeing her awake. With her okay, his job was intact. She was one of the best partners he has ever had. If she was killed by another one of his partners, he didn't know what he would do. "I'm going to go get your doctor." Sarah nodded in response and watched as Casey walked out of the room.

While waiting for her doctor to arrive, Sarah tried to remember what had happened. The last thing she remembers is having lunch with Daniel and his new girlfriend. Then Bryce came in and...and then she couldn't remember anything else. After that, her memories went completely blank. Sarah was trying to sort her thoughts when her doctor walked in. He was quite handsome in that _perfect ken doll_ sort of way.

"Good, you're awake." He said and pulled out a small light from his white doctor's lab coat. While waving the light in front of her eyes, he said, "I'm Doctor Woodcomb. You're pretty lucky we were able to get the bullet our cleanly. It still did some pretty serious damage to some of your internal organs, but you'll be okay after some serious R and R." Putting the light back in his pocket, he grabbed her clipboard and jotted down some notes. He looked up from his papers to see a very confused looking Sarah Walker. "R and R, y'know, rest and relaxation."

"No, no, I know what that is. But you said bullet?" Sarah asked weakly, trying to put together everything he was saying.

"Yes, you were shot in a diner downtown. You don't have to worry, though, the police caught the shooter."

"Do you know who the shooter was?"

"I didn't catch a na- hey!" Doctor Woodcomb said as a pretty brunette came up behind him and placed a hand on his arm. "Sarah, this is Doctor Woodcomb, my wife."

Sarah smiled in greeting, but her face turned to total horror as she had a sudden realization. Bryce had shot her. It wasn't an assassin, or a guy doing a hit and run, but her own partner. Slowly, her memory of the whole thing came back. Needing to talk to Shaw, Beckman, or Casey even, she once again attempted to get up. This time fighting though that pain that erupted in her gut. Before she could swing her legs off the side of the hospital bed, someone was stopping her.

"Hey, hey, hey! You're not going anywhere. Lie down." Doctor Woodcomb directed as he gently pushed her back down.

"I need to see someone. Please." She pleaded with her warmest expression.

"Sorry, doctor's orders." He seemed to get a chuckle out of that, since he was the doctor, but Sarah wasn't amused. She was used to getting what she wanted, when she wanted it.

Sighing, she asked, "Can I at least make a call?"

"Actually-"

His wife cut him off before he could finish, "Devon, honey, I'll handle this, okay?"

He nodded and left the room. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a black, boxy looking object. Sliding down a piece on top, she handed what appeared to be a phone to Sarah. "It might not be as sleek as the average cellphone, but it's made with technology that won't disrupt the equipment in the hospital." With a smile, she left the room to give Sarah some privacy.

Sarah made her call to General Beckman to find out what the hell was going on. After being put on hold several times, she was able to talk to the General.

" I'm on an unsecured line." Knowing this, they both avoided using formalities in case anyone was listening.

"Understood. How are you feeling?"

"I'll survive. Do you have Bryce in custody?"

"Yes."

"When can I get out of here?"

"Since the shooting was so public, you'll have to stay in the hospital for at least their minimum recommended time."

"Understood. Thank-you." The line went dead and Sarah turned off the phone and placed it on the table next to her bed. She ran her hands through her hair, knowing that the next week or so would be extremely boring. Now that her mind was free of the most important matters, she noticed that she had to pee. Bad. She knew there must be a bathroom nearby, but the task of getting there would prove to be most difficult.

* * *

I decided on a little less of a cliffhanger this time..well except for Shaw's of course. :] Reviews are welcome, and appreciated!


	11. The Truth

A/N: Big Charah chapter! Thanks go to GladiusGrim for helping me out big time! I hope you all like it and don't forget to review!

Disclaimer:I don't own Chuck.

* * *

August 20, 2009  
Glendale, California  
Bartowski Home  
6:34 pm

Chuck lay face-down on his bed, his head shoved into the pillow. For the past week, he was either in this exact position, or playing video games about three feet from where he was now. The only reason he exited his 'man cave' was to eat or use the bathroom; but only when absolutely necessary. Several times during the week, he was going to visit Sarah again, but he managed to talk himself out of it every time. The thought of seeing her body looking so dead and fragile made him devastated.

For the first few days of his retreat, his parents would take turns coming into his hideout to see how he was doing. With little or no response from the subject of their attention, they gave up. He knew he was fine, and didn't need anyone checking up on him. In no way was he in a state of depression, so any suicide attempts were out of the question. He wasn't sick either, which meant he didn't need to see a doctor. Chuck didn't have to worry about any friends worrying, because he didn't have any. After he went to see Sarah at the hospital, things became much clearer. His life was becoming somewhat pointless. At least being a government agent, they knew they were saving lives. However, in Chuck's case, he was just a lonely test subject for his father. No lives were being saved and not much progress being made. This conclusion drew Chuck into desolation.

For the first time in several days, a loud ringing broke the silence that was so present in Chuck's room. His head popped up as he thought of where it could be coming from. He swung his legs off the side of the bed and started digging through the night-stand drawer. Hand clasping a small, square object, he pulled it out and stared questioningly at it. He was holding a burn phone; Sarah Walker being the only other person who knew the number. Of course, this could just be a wrong number, or one of those telemarketers. Or it could be Sarah.  
Chuck put the phone to his ear and said hesitantly, "Hello?"

"Hey Chuck." He could practically hear the smile in her voice, which forced a giant grin onto his own face. "Can you pick me up? I'm at the hospital. I'll explain why later."

"Really? I mean, of course. I'll be there in ten." He hung up the phone and jumped from his bed. In a sprint to his bathroom, he splashed water on his face and wet his hair. Grabbing a comb, he shoved it through his brown curls while simultaneously brushing his teeth. He lifted his arm and smelled his own odor, cringing at the stench emanating from his body. He grabbed his deodorant hoping to give himself the 'fresh, manly' scent. Dashing back to his room, he sniffed a black shirt he found lying on the floor. Immediately, he drew back and threw it back onto the floor. In the closet, a single clean shirt hung. Clutching the red shirt, he threw it over his head and pulled on a pair of dark jeans. Back to the bathroom, he sprayed on too much body spray to eliminate the smell of too many shower-less days. His head snapped back and forth from his plain, black sneaker to his black and white Converse. After a few moments of deliberating, he went with his gut and pulled on the Chuck Taylor's. He hurried down the hallway and clasped onto his keys and snatched his jacket on his way out the door.

Chuck's foot rarely came off the gas all the way to the hospital. He didn't completely understand why he was so excited to see Sarah. Actually, that was a lie, because he knew exactly why he was racing to the hospital. Because this beautiful woman, with lush blonde hair, and blue eyes the color of topaz wanted to see him. Out of all the people that she could have pick her up from the hospital, she chose the goofy, brown haired, crook. If she was stupid enough to make that decision, then he was dumb enough to go and pick her up.

Pulling into the parking lot, Chuck began to question himself and if he should actually do this. Second guessing his decisions was a commonality with him. Instead of making the logical choice like usual, Chuck went with what his intuition was telling him: he got out of his car and went to see Sarah.

* * *

Sarah sat on the edge of her bed, analyzing her choices. On one hand she could call Casey and ask him for a ride back to her hotel. This would mean that she would return to her old life. It would be different, but not by much. Bryce wouldn't be a part of their team, which would make them one member short. But, overall, her life would be the same. On the other hand, she could call Chuck and take a break. Take some time off from all of the missions and assignments. Go somewhere the government wouldn't be able to find them. She kept telling herself that if she took a vacation, she would come back, but she really wasn't sure if that would be the case. More than anything, she just needed a change from her life. In this moment of her life, Chuck was her key to change.

She searched thoroughly through her bag and grabbed the burn phone that Chuck had given her. She called the only number in the contacts list. When he said 'Hello', she couldn't stop the bright smile from forming on her face. "Hey Chuck."

Sarah asked him if he would pick her up from the hospital, and without even asking why, he said yes. If she asked anyone else, they would have questioned it somehow, but not Chuck. After he hung up the phone, she fell backwards onto the uncomfortable hospital bed. Happiness flooded over her. She wasn't completely sure why, because she had so many reasons not to be happy right now; a few weeks ago she was shot by her partner and former boyfriend, her life had become unexciting, and she was falling in lo- and she really _liked_ a criminal. But Chuck was coming to see her and take her to where ever they wanted to go; so what did she have to be sad about?

Sarah slowly got up and walked towards the waiting room, careful not to further injure her aching stomach in the process. She looked hopefully out the window, looking at every place and every face to find Chuck walking towards the doors. Unfortunately, so far there wasn't a tall, brown haired man walking her way. Looking at her watch, she noticed that only two minutes had gone by since she'd called him. Sighing, she opted to take a seat and wait patiently...well impatiently for Chuck to show up.

Sitting down in a chair with old, tattered cushions, Sarah tapped her fingers against the hard, wooden armrest. Her foot impatiently drummed against the ugly, gray carpet. Her mind raced with all of the different situations that could happen. Chuck might not show up at all, she'd be left here waiting for hours, hoping that he would show up and tell her that he got caught in traffic. Or when he stepped out of his car, a team of agents would appear and tackle him down. Maybe, when he opened the doors and saw her sitting there, he would turn around and walk away. Scenario after scenario flipped through her head until she couldn't handle the negative mindset she had obtained.

She buried her face in her hands, wondering why she called Chuck in the first place. There wasn't any way that they could leave this hospital with chaos erupting. The chair next to hers squeaked as someone sat on it's shabby cushions.

"You don't seem happy to see me." A voice said with humor laced through every word. Sarah lifted her head cautiously from her hands, expecting the voice to be a figment of her imagination.

It wasn't.

A smile grew on her face as all of her doubts were promptly erased from her thoughts. Chuck was wearing sunglasses that shielded his warm, brown eyes and it looked like he was distracted by something. It was almost as if he didn't want to be seen next to her. All of the sudden, an ache filled her stomach, and this time it wasn't from her wound. Instead of expressing that hurt to him, she stored it away deep inside her like she often did.

Chuck started whispering without looking at her. "You're going to have to leave here first and wait at the left corner of the hospital where their is a blind-spot from cameras. I'll go to the security room and loop a few minutes of footage so no one will know I was in here. Then I'll leave through the back door and meet with up with you."

Relief flooded over Sarah fast and hard, she would have fallen over if she wasn't already sitting down. He was acting so distant because he didn't want anyone to think they were in there together. If anyone from her team got hold of the security footage or anyone witnesses saying that she was in contact with Chuck, then she'd be burned before she could even blink. He was protecting her, which made her heart want to melt. Her expertise at keeping a solid facial expression helped greatly in this situation. She kept her face in the neutral position as it had been since she sat down, and she made the smallest of nods to let Chuck know she understood. Nonchalantly, Sarah got up and walked out the door.

Chuck waited several moments before standing and going towards the security room. Luckily, he knew exactly where he need to go because of the last time he had come to visit Sarah. The door was locked and needed a key-card to get in. Instead of trying to hack into the locking system, he strode down the hallway until he caught sight of a hospital administrator. He slowed his pace and lightly bumped into her. "I'm so sorry." He said while making eye contact to divert her attention from his other hand that was stealing her key-card. Chuck advanced down the corridor until he reached a corner. Waiting there until the administrator was out of sight, he raced back down the way he came towards the security room. He slipped the card into the slot and a small clicking noise sounded. Looking around, he found no one watching him as he slipped into the small, dark room.

Dropping into the chair in front of the desktop filled with monitors, he started punching in some keys. He was able to quickly loop the footage from several minutes before with the time he was there. He checked all of the other cameras, just in case he missed any spots, but he had gotten them all. Now if he could get out of the hospital without being caught, it would be as if he had never been there. Chuck snuck out of the small room without being seen. It took him several minutes to get to the back of the hospital and to the locked service door. Using the card, he unlocked the door and dropped the key card on a nearby table. He surreptitiously left the hospital moving quickly and purposefully and ran to the left corner of the building, not wanting Sarah to have to wait any longer than necessary.

Wanting to surprise her, Chuck snuck up behind her, careful not to make a noise. Sarah didn't move a muscle as he approached her, which proved to him that she hadn't noticed him. About a foot away from her, he stuck his arm out to grab her shoulder, when her hand snapped out like a snake. It clasped his wrist and she was about to flip him when he went on the defensive.

Kung-fu symbols flashed through Chuck's brain. Rather than using his flash, like he commonly did, he attempted to fight it off. Sarah just had to have a bullet removed, which would mean anything the Intersect had in-store for her would just cause more damage. This was the first time that he has ever fought something he flashed on, and it caused immediate pain to course through his brain. Chuck's hands clutched his head as he collapsed on the ground. Every muscle in his body was pulsing from the adrenaline rushing through his body. One neural implant in his brain was trying to take control of all of his reflexes, and it took all of his strength and will-power to refrain from hurting Sarah.

She stood there motionless, in complete surprise. She hadn't touched his head, and her hand wasn't able to even twist his arm before he crumbled to the ground. Finally, sense pounded against her consciousness and she dropped to her knees, ignoring the ripping agony in her torso. "Chuck! Chuck? Come on, not now. Don't do this now." Sarah knew that Chuck was bound to come with some baggage, but this was definitely unexpected. It was almost identical to what she had seen happen to Bryce. The last thing she wanted was Chuck having the same problems as Bryce; she wasn't ready for another man to shoot her anytime soon. While watching him convulse and hating herself because she didn't know how to help him, Sarah felt a tear slide down her cheek. Usually, she would immediately wipe it off and pretend that it never escaped onto her face, but this time she allowed herself to show emotion, to feel for someone without having to hide it.

Finally, his hands fell to his sides and body went limp. Sarah knelt next to Chuck's unmoving body. Her hand shot up to his neck to check for a pulse and she sighed in relief when she found he was alive. Looking around, she still found no one near them, but Sarah didn't want to take the chance of someone walking by and discovering them there. She grabbed Chuck under his arms and started dragging him towards the barrier of bushes. Because of her current physical state, it took her much longer than it should have to get him to the other side of the bushes. When she finally got him to the other side of the thick brush, they were lying in what looks like a previously knocked down building. Fortunately, no one was near by, as Sarah allowed herself to break down emotionally while curling up next to Chuck, crying. Unusual behavior as it was for Sarah especially in public, but after all of the events that happened today and over the last few weeks finally tore through her self-control.. After drowning herself completely in self-pity, she sat with one arm holding herself up while the other hand ran through her hair. She used the back of her hand to wipe the tears from her cheeks and eyes then carefully lifted up the front of her shirt. She inspected her bullet wound, hoping that she hadn't caused any additional damage. Luckily, no stitches broke and besides the utter agony she will be in later, she should be fine.

Leaning back on her elbow, Sarah observed Chuck's face. Using her free hand, she gently brushed the hair out of his face and wiped the moisture from his brow. She began tapping his cheeks lightly, then harder. When he still didn't wake, she moved to her knees and pulled her arm back. Quickly, she slapped her hand onto his right cheek and his head flew sideways. Chuck's eyes bolted open and his whole body tensed. His mind was alert and afraid when he woke in an unfamiliar place. A hand was placed gently on his cheek and his alarm quickly diminished. He sluggishly sat up and wrapped Sarah into his embrace. His arms were wound tightly around her when he heard a quiet groan escape her lips. He pulled back immediately and gazed at her apologetically.

"It's okay. I'm fine, just a little sore." Sarah smiled reassuringly.

Chuck lightly grabbed the bottom of Sarah's shirt and waited for permission to lift it and see her bullet wound. She put her hand over his and raised her shirt to show him the damage Bryce caused. Chuck's fingers traced gently around it, fingers barely brushing her skin. "We match." He said lightly, hoping to ease the tension. She gave a small laugh, but he could tell she wanted to talk about what happened and nothing he said was going to change that.

"Chuck. What happened to you? I understand you being secretive, I really do, but I need to know what's going on. You either trust me or you don't."

It was an obvious decision for him. Of course he trusted her. He was always known for trusting too easily, but his trust for Sarah was different. When she asked him to go to the hospital, he didn't second guess it. He never thought that she might betray him, which had to mean that he trusted her implicitly. However, she was still a CIA agent, and she would probably always be a spy at heart. Chuck had to decide if he would rather lose Sarah and stay safe, or have her and take the chance of being caught. Who was he trying to fool? It was Sarah, of course he would choose her.

"I ha-" Sarah cut him off before he could say anything too important.

"Let's go to the car first, then you can tell me."

"But I thought you wanted the truth?" Chuck asked, confused.

Sarah smiled and started to stand. "You trust me. I can wait until the car." She said simply and began walking towards the hospital parking lot. Chuck grinned and rose up as he watched her stride away with confidence he didn't have. He ran towards her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders and kissed her on the top of the head. Picking her up carefully yet purposefully, he walked towards the car ignoring Sarah's mild protests to put her down. While she told him that he didn't have to carry her, she still burrowed deep into his chest. Chuck wished he could stay in this moment forever.

* * *

Shaw woke up on an uncomfortable cot in the middle of a dimly lit room. He turned his head to the side to see Jessica sleeping with her head on the edge of his cot. She was the only person in the room and all he could hear was her quiet and steady breathing. He tried to sit up, but his legs weren't cooperating. In a panic, he tried to wiggle his toes. When they were all able to move, he tried his feet. So far, everything was working correctly. He reluctantly attempted to move his legs; his left leg did as he wished, the right leg was restrained. He lifted up the blanket that covered his legs and found his right leg strapped into a huge metal contraption. Fear rushed through his veins as his brain began to panic. Shaw began to try and rip his leg out of the metal brace, which shook the whole cot.

Jessica was woken up by the rattling cot. Her head darted up as she watched Shaw yank on his severely broken leg. "Daniel! Daniel, stop! You're going through shock! Daniel!" She pushed down on his chest with both of her hands until he finally fell backwards and lay motionlessly.

"What have you done to me?" He asked with sadness and grief filling his voice.

Jessica gave him an apologetic look. "I'm so sorry. This wasn't supposed to happen."

"What did you do?" He demanded.

"I didn't plan it, Daniel, I promise!"

"What the _hell_ did you do to me!" Shaw was beginning to become furious with her avoiding the question.

"You don't remember what happened?" With an infuriated glare in return, she continued. "I made you help me break into a government facility where they hold some of their best equipment, but they already knew we were coming. The building was evacuated, all but one guard, and they set up a trap. I walked into a room and by stepping on a floor panel, it was supposed to lock me in the room, but instead it-..." Her voice shook and lips quivered. "...-your leg was trapped in the door. You took a step to follow me in, and it snapped shut on your leg. By the time I got the door open, you had lost so much blood. It soaked both sides of the door and you had passed out. I couldn't bring you to the hospital, we both would have been arrested. I-I had to think fast because agents probably would have been there soon. This was the only place I could think of bringing you."

Daniel had a blank stare on his face and he avoided looking at Jessica all-together. "Where are we?"

"A Fulcrum care facility." She said hesitantly, knowing it would just continue to anger him.

"Shit, shit! Get out! Leave me alone!"

"Daniel, please." Trying to calm him down, she placed her hand on his. Quickly, he whipped it off.

"Get the hell away from me!"

Instead of attempting to keep him calm, she did as he asked and left the room.

After she left the room, Shaw was able to try and remember that day. Jess had told him that his leg was clamped between a metal door and the wall. Right now, his leg was covered in a large white cast that went three-quarters of the way up his thigh. He ran his hands down the side of the cast, still choosing not to believe what had happened to him. On the inside of his thigh, he found a short message written with red permanent marker. It read, 'I'm so sorry. You'll be okay, you're a survivor. Love, Jess.' Tears formed in his eyes, not because of the message, but because it meant that this was all real. It made it all sink in. He might not ever be able to use his leg again. Even worse- there was blood. Most likely, scientists had already compared the blood from the door to every DNA sample they have on file. By now, they probably found a match: Agent Daniel Shaw. The CIA had become his whole life, now he's just going to be another person they are forced to arrest. He was no better than Bryce.

Daniel began to think about how he had ended up in a Fulcrum care center. First of all, why did Jessica help him in the first place? She could have just left him there to die. He would have been blamed for the breaking-and-entering and created less of a problem for her to deal with. Instead, she carried him out of a trapped government building, risking herself in the process. After that, she convinced a team of rogue spies to operate on him so he didn't die. Either he was an extremely valuable asset to her and Fulcrum, or she had grown to care for him. The former sounded more likely, but he wasn't sure what he could do for Fulcrum that any other CIA agent couldn't do. The fact of the situation, was that Fulcrum saved his life, which makes them better than the government has led on.

* * *

General Beckman's face appeared more stern and angry than usual as she scowled at Major John Casey.

"We have a problem, Major." Casey's eyes were fixed on the General as he waited for her to continue. "Agent Shaw has been missing for the past week. His blood was found at a secure, government building around the time he went missing. There have been no leads as to where he might be, or if anyone has seen him. Agent Walker checked out of the hospital today, but has failed to check back into Castle. She hasn't answered her phone and she isn't in her apartment. As of right now, you are the only active member of Team O Mellor. I need your help recruiting new agents for this team. Even if Agent Walker shows up, it wouldn't be wise to keep her on a team where her partner betrayed her. Files on the possible members of your team will be faxed to you. Understood?"

"Yes, Ma'am." After the screen flickered to black, Casey clenched his hands into fists. Almost as if by instinct, he walked towards the arsenal, like he always did when under any form of stress. He hated having to recruit new agents, because most of the time, they were amateurs. Walker, Shaw, and, Larkin had their faults, but they were good agents. He didn't respect the decision Beckman made towards getting rid of Walker. She could be unpredictable and occasionally had a temper, but she had a great shot, keen instincts, and excellent self-defense skills. She never felt the need to fill every silence with mindless chatter like Larkin always did. He was always the wild-card out of the four of them, which made him very unreliable. Shaw was another great agent, but his instincts weren't on the same level as Walker's. Shaw wasn't born to be a spy, but he did his best, which was often good enough. Now Casey had to start over and build trust with a new set of agents- with what happened with Bryce, trusting his partners would become much more difficult.

* * *

Sarah appeared extremely overwhelmed as she scrunched her brow, trying to organize her thoughts. "Let me get this right, you have an Intersect, but not the same one Bryce had. You have a newer version, the 2.0." Chuck nodded, she was right so far. Which surprised him, since he had thrown a lot at her all at once. "And your father is the creator of the Intersect. What happened to you is a bug in the program called..."

"Cascade Interface Failure." Chuck filled in.

"You tried to stop yourself from flashing which caused you to collapse. And the reason you broke into Castle was to get rid of all the Intersect 2.0 information so we wouldn't have the same problems you're having."

"Yeah, that basically covers it." He grinned, hoping she wouldn't walk away right now and tell her boss everything he just told her. Sarah just stared through the windshield, no emotions evident on her face. Chuck decided to start the car, just to make himself feel less vulnerable. After driving several miles without anything being spoken, Chuck broke the silence. "Please, just say something. I don't know what to do if you don't say something."

An audible swallow was made by Sarah as she gripped the door handle next to her. "A robber, I could have handled. A rogue spy, I could have handled. I prepared myself for something much different than you've just told me. I just need a few minutes, okay?"

"Take all the time you need." Chuck continued to drive in silence, unsure of exactly where he was going. At first he began driving in circles, but then he thought of a destination. Sarah needed some time to clear her head, sort her thoughts, so he was going to bring her to the place that always helped him clear his head. The drive there was quiet, but peaceful. Chuck felt a comfort with Sarah that he didn't feel with many other people. They were comfortable around each other without having to fill in silences with noise. Finally, they reached one of the places that made Chuck feel at home. The beach.

He parked and stepped out of the car. Dropping the keys in his pocket, he walked away without waiting for Sarah. If she wanted to come with him, she would, but he wasn't going to force her. He took in the sight of the golden sun setting over the wide expanse of ocean. A cool breeze was hitting his face and carrying away his doubts and worries. He sunk down into the sand and let all of his muscles form to the shape of the ground, relaxing him completely. Folding his hands behind his head to look at the sky, he heard the movement of sand behind him. A shoeless Sarah, walked up behind him and took a seat on the warm, soft sand. Her knees were tucked up under her chin, with her arms wrapped around her legs. She scooted towards Chuck, and laid her head on his shoulder. He pulled his arm around her and they watched the sun set in peace.

* * *

Shaw had been dazing in and out of sleep the whole day. When he woke up, he glanced around the room and saw Jessica slumped in a corner, sleeping, with her head leaning on her shoulder. He was starting to understand everything. She isn't evil, he thought as he watched an innocent-looking girl sleep in the corner of the room. If he hadn't lost his temper earlier, she would probably have her head lying on his bed, resting comfortably; instead she was on the hard floor, leaning against the cement wall. If he could get up without crying out in pain, he would walk over and lift her up into his arms. Since he couldn't, he just sat and stared. This was just another agent doing her job, much like himself.

Jessica's head rolled off of her shoulder and her eyes blinked open as if she felt someone looking at her. When she saw his un-angered face, she smiled lightly and rubbed her eyes to wake herself. Slowly, she pushed herself from the floor and walked towards the cot. "Hey."

Daniel smiled in response and asked for some water. While she was pouring him a glass, he said, "I forgot to thank you earlier. You didn't have to save me, but you did. I owe you."

She turned her head and gave him a surprised look. "You don't owe me anything."

"You saved my life, I think that counts for something."

After several moments of thinking, she said as she handed him a glass, "How about we call it even?"

Now it was Shaw's turn to give her a confused look until she continued, "Your mother, I ordered my men to stay away from her. Once you can get out of this bed, you're free to go."

"That's it? You're just going to let me go?"

She laughed at his reluctance, "What, are you going to miss me?" She asked sarcastically.

"No, I guess not. I'm just surprised.

"You were expecting me to kill you? Then I dispose of your body and all of my problems are gone?" When Shaw gave her a look that said he was thinking that exact thing, she shook her head in disbelief. "I didn't join Fulcrum because I wanted to kill people whenever I felt the need. I went rogue because the CIA...never mind. It doesn't matter."

"Just tell me, please?"

"Just drop it, okay?" She demanded as she trudged out of the door. Shaw knew that he must have hit a nerve. Whatever the VIA did to make her join Fulcrum must have been something that deeply hurt her. However, in his current state, Daniel wasn't about to ask questions and risk any more injuries.

* * *

A/N: Hope you guys liked it! Review please!


	12. Get in the Bed

A/N: I decided that I'd update a little faster than usual for several reasons: number one is because I had the chapter finished, and number two is because today is a very special day. It is my birthdayy! Woohooo! So in celebration I thought I'd post a fun chapter! I warn you..there is some good Chuck/Sarah action, I think you guys will enjoy it!

Disclaimer: I don't own Chuck...

* * *

August 20, 2009

Glendale, California

Chuck's Car

8:12 pm

Chuck and Sarah were driving away from the beach, both happier than they had been in a while. "Can we go somewhere? And not somewhere in California, or even the U.S. I want to get away and take a break. I _need _to take a break."

"You want to go on a vacation?" Chuck asked, surprised that she would suggest it.

"More than anything." She said as she gave him the sweetest set of puppy-dog eyes that he had ever seen. Chuck looked around in both directions and saw no cars, which made him immediately take a u-turn.

"Then let's go," He said, smiling.

"Now? We're going right now? I don't have any clothes, or money, or-" She was cut off immediately by Chuck.

"It's now or never. Are we going to do this? Run away from our family, our jobs. Once we make the decision, there is no turning back. Are you in, or are you out?"

"I-I'm in. Let's go anywhere. We just have to get away from this place."

"First, we have to make a quick pit-stop. I need to get some money, or we're not going anywhere." Sarah expected him to go to a secret warehouse that contained crates of money lining every wall, floor to ceiling. Instead, they arrived at a long, dirt driveway. While heading up the drive, Chuck pulled out his phone and pushed a few buttons then slid it up between his ear and shoulder. Sarah was wondering who he was calling. Was it his workers that guard his money twenty-four seven?

"Hey ma. Are you home?" Well, she wasn't expecting his mom, but it could be a code phrase.

After a short pause of him listening through the phone he said, "Well, see, I kind of brought a...friend."... "Yes, I know, but can we come in?"... "We're outside the house." After a rant filled with screaming and name calling coming from the other end of the line, Chuck hung up and said to Sarah, "They seem thrilled to meet you."

"I can tell." She added sarcastically.

As they walked toward the front door, Sarah questioned how this could be Chuck's home. It looked cozy. It was white with flowers planted next to the porch. The windows had blue shutters on the sides. A garage was attached to the side of the house with two large doors. There was even a doorbell! How could this be Chuck's house? He opened the door and instead of the inside being a high-tech lair with computers lining every wall and spy gadgets sprawled everywhere, she found a regular kitchen. A woman that appeared to be in her late forties, early fifties, walked out of what Sarah believed to be the living room. She wore an opening smile and held out her hand for Sarah to shake. "It's good to finally meet you. My name's Mary."

Sarah was reluctant to shake the woman's hand because of how kind she seemed. On the phone, all she heard was screaming and this was completely different. "I'm Sarah. Nice to meet you, too."

"Sarah, can I talk to my son alone for a moment?"

"Of course." Sarah said, knowing this is where the yelling was about to come in. She left the room to let Chuck and his mother talk alone.

"Charles, what were you thinking bringing a CIA agent into our home? Where we work? This is the stupidest idea you've ever had. This could get us killed!"

"We're going on a vacation together and I came to get my money." He said calmly, hoping not to alarm his mother.

"What? No, you're not going anywhere!" Mary's maternal instincts kicked in as she tried to keep Chuck shelled up.

"I'm thirty, I think I can handle making my own decisions." He pulled his mother into his embrace. "I'll be fine, she's a good girl."

"She's a good spy, too, which makes it worse. I did a check into her background and missions she has done. She knows what she's doing. That means she could be fooling you and there is a government team coming this way right now."

"I knew you would get nervous about that, which is why I have this." He pulled out a transmission blocker that would prevent her from making any calls or receiving them. Mary gave a small sigh of relief and showed a small smile.

"You are my son."

He smiled and walked into the living-room where he found Sarah looking curiously at every object, as if trying to find something in particular. He laughed, "What are you doing?"

"This can't be right. You are an at-home agent with a super computer stored somewhere in this building, but I see nothing. It's just a normal house."

"Ah, but you haven't seen my room." Her eyes bulged open and an excited smile formed on her face. He grabbed her hand and pulled her towards his room. When he opened the door, disappointment filled Sarah's face as she found yet another real room. His bed was unmade and his floor had clothes sprawled around it. It surprised her, considering Chuck's orderly personality, but maybe she had pegged him incorrectly. "Sorry for the mess, it's usually clean, I just haven't been having a good week."

"I can see that." She watched Chuck walk towards a closet and push the hanging shirts to the side. He opened a breaker-box and began flipping switches. After several clicks later, a panel popped out of the wall next to the box and Chuck flattened his hand on the palm plate that was on the panel. The back wall of the closet opened and a whole new room appeared. Sarah stood still, eyes wide open. This was what she was waiting for, something high-tech that you would see in a movie.

She followed him into the room and on the right monitors and computer towers lined the whole wall. To her left was a small arsenal. With closer inspection, she found that many of the weapons weren't lethal, but top of the line tranq-guns. On the back wall, Chuck plugged in a code and opened a safe filled with money. It wasn't the warehouse filled with money she expected, but it still had to be over a million dollars; probably closer to two. He shoveled the money into a bag he had carried in from his car. "You're never going to get that through an airport."

"Which is why we're not going to a normal airport. I'll have my mom reserve us a plane at a private airport."

"You can't get a plane on such short notice."

"You'd be surprised." He gave her a sly smile and she shook her head at his mysteriousness. Chuck was finished in his secret lair, so they left and went back to the normal section of the house. Mary was mindlessly cleaning the kitchen as her son walked towards her with Sarah close behind. "Do you think you could get us a plane ready?"

"Are you sure you want to do this?" She asked, hoping he would change his mind and stay home where he would be safe. Once she got past her maternal instincts, she realized that this was most likely the best thing for Chuck. He was isolating himself from the world and it seems that Sarah is the only person that can make him truly happy. When Chuck gave her a look that said he was very positive that this was what he wanted to do, she sighed and said, "Yes, go to Clermont's and I'll make sure they have a plane for you. Do you want to be co-pilot, or just a passenger?"

"Passenger. Thanks, mom. Love you." He gave his mother one last hug and left on the journey that would make his life worth living.

* * *

Daniel leaned against the back of the bed and mindlessly watched the new television they added to his dark, dreary room. Jessica had been in periodically to see how he was doing, or if he needed anything. Right now, he was currently alone in the room, until an unfamiliar man entered the room. He had a large build and broad shoulders. His hair was graying at the temples, his face rough. His large, thick hands grabbed a metal chair from the corner of the room and pulled it towards Daniel's bed. The man spun it backwards and sat, resting his arms on the back of chair. "George Carter," He said, introducing himself. He held out his hand, waiting for Daniel to shake it. Shaw grabbed the man's hand and said, "Daniel Shaw."

"It's good to meet you, Daniel." Shaw knew there was something suspicious about George Carter, but wasn't sure exactly what. There was something about the man that put himself at ease. "You seem like a fine guy, so I have to be straight with you. Your job as a CIA agent is over, the government knows you broke into their building; your blood was all over the floor. If you go back, they'll arrest you faster than you can say 'let me explain myself'. It's unfair, but it's just how they do things, which is why I'm going to make you an offer. The way I look at it, you have three options. The first one is you can go back and beg for forgiveness, which will lead to your immediate arrest. Option two: you spend big money on a new identity in a foreign company and live the rest of your life in hiding. Option three: you join Fulcrum and continue your life as a spy, just playing for the other team, which in your case probably sounds pretty good right about now. I'll give you a while to think about it." He said as he lifted himself from the chair and nodded to Shaw.

Once the door shut, Daniel pondered his options. The man was exactly right in every case. If he went back to General Beckman to try and explain himself, he would be shut down immediately. There was evidence linking him directly to the break-in at the security building. There was no way to squeeze his way out of it with talk about all the good he has done for this country. Starting his life over with a new identity might sound good to some people, but he wasn't ready to start over. He wasn't good enough to be able and begin a new life; his first life didn't turn out as well as it could have, what made him think that his second chance would turn out any better? As much of a terrible decision it was, he knew he had to go with option three, Fulcrum. Was this how they always recruited new members? Send a Fulcrum agent to act as the agent's girlfriend/boyfriend. Drag spy along on a mission that will put them in a life or death situation. Then once the Fulcrum agent sneaks them back to one of their secured bases, they offer the person a job. The technique is surely unique...and effective.

George Carter returned to his spot in the chair and waited for Shaw to speak first. "I'm in, you make a convincing argument."

A smile formed on Carter's face and he patted Shaw on the shoulder. "Welcome to Fulcrum. Once this leg heals up, you get to start your training."

Shaw's eyes bulged open, "I have to go through training again?"

The man laughed and said, "Don't worry, it's easy enough. There are a few physical tests that you'll pass easily, but most of it is psychological stuff, to make sure there are no double agents. You'll do fine."

Daniel collapsed onto his pillow and sighed. What has he gotten himself into?

* * *

Chuck opened the door to their room they checked in under fake names. They were staying in a small Italian bed and breakfast that looked clean and comfortable. Sarah decided to start their trip in Italy and Chuck couldn't have been anymore thrilled; Italy was one on his top ten list of places he wanted to go. They had been riding on a plane all day and all either of them wanted to do was sleep in a bed; not in a poorly cushioned airplane seat. The least suspicious way to check in was as a married couple, which required staying in a one-bed room. Chuck opened the door and let Sarah walk in, following right after her. To the right was a large double bed surrounded by two night-stands. On the left side of the room was a loveseat with a small television sitting on a stand in front of it. Across the room, parallel to the door, was a tiny kitchenette with a stove and mini-fridge. Sarah walked towards the bathroom that was located next to the kitchenette and found cramped room with a shower, toilet, and sink. She peeked her head out of the door and said, "I'm going to take a shower." After she shut the door, Chuck dropped the bag filled with a few things they bought at the airport along with the emergency bag he kept in his trunk containing a few t-shirts, a pair of pants and boxers, socks, and toiletries on the floor in front of the bed.

While Sarah was in the shower, he decided to change into his boxers and t-shirt. He found an extra blanket in the closet as well as another pillow. He brought them to the loveseat and made himself a bed for the night. Lying down, he stretched out as much as he could on such a small couch, and turned on the television. With not much interesting on, he opted to watch the sequel to the Matrix, which wasn't as good as the first movie, but still better than the other options there was to watch.

Ten minutes later, Sarah walked out of the bathroom, covered only by a small white towel. Chuck goggled at her smooth, moist skin and tussled, wet hair. "Do you have a t-shirt I can wear to bed?" She asked while biting her bottom lip, making Chuck just about drool.

He nodded, unsure if he would be capable of completing a sentence. Jumping up from his spot on the couch, he hurried towards his bag, and managed to trip over a table on his way there. He opened the bag and pulled out one of his spare shirts and handed it to her. She smiled in thanks and walked back into the bathroom, her towel barely reaching her thighs. As soon as the door shut, Chuck withdrew the breath he had been holding and went to the kitchen to pour himself a glass of cold water. Sarah emerged from the bathroom, this time clothed in his white t-shirt and her underwear. He had to force himself to look at her face, which had just about the same affect on him. He cleared his throat and walked to the couch and watched the television to distract himself from the goddess that was standing a mere five yards away from him. She went to the couch and sat next to Chuck.

"What are you watching?" She asked to make conversation.

"The Matrix...Reloaded. The Wachowski brothers...slow motion bullet dodging...Morpheus...Mr. Anderson" He said, throwing out different iconic symbols from the movie, trying to help her recognize it. Her face remained confused. "Really? You don't know what the Matrix is? Your knowledge of pop culture is insulting."

Sarah laughed at the nerd she had just discovered in him. "I'm sorry, I haven't exactly had the time for movie nights."

"Well, I'm going to have to change that, Ms. Walker. Because I like my girls well educated in the fine arts." Chuck said in a joking manner.

"Your _girl?_ If I'm your girl, then why are you sleeping on the couch?"

"Because I am a terrible bed hog and I wouldn't make you deal with that."

"Is that so? Because I am pretty sure that I could handle it."

"Nope, you need a good night's sleep, and me sleeping in that bed with you would end in _me_ sleeping like a baby and _you_ laying on the edge of the bed wishing you let me sleep on the couch. So my decision is final."

Sarah moved her head centimeters away from Chuck's ear and whispered, "Fine, but when you get no sleep because of this couch, don't say I didn't offer. Night Chuck." She lightly brushed her hand against his chest as she stood and strutted over to the bed. He turned off the television and she switched off the lamp. Now emerged in darkness, Chuck fell back onto the loveseat and let himself react in silence to Sarah and her beautiful body covered solely by a thin t-shirt and small-very small- underwear. He shook his head, having no idea why he decided to sleep on this stupid, uncomfortable couch.

Sarah tucked herself into the blankets and stared at the ceiling, wondering why Chuck wanted to sleep on that stupid, uncomfortable couch. She blatantly hinted that she wanted him to make his move and he ignored every one of them. The only way to be more obvious, would be to straight out tell him. She had to train herself to learn mind of men and their way of thinking, but all of the training in the world would never make her understand why they made the decisions they did. She lay in bed for over an hour trying to figure out what was going through Chuck's mind. Every five minutes or so, she could hear him shifting on the couch. For the next half an hour, she made an effort to count the amount of times he switched positions; twelve times- give or take a few. Finally, she got up from the bed and lifted something from the night-stand.

Chuck looked towards the bed when he heard Sarah getting up. Suddenly, he heard an abrupt clicking coming from her direction. "Get in the bed."

"What?" He asked, perturbed.

"Get your ass off the couch and into the bed, now."

As his vision adjusted better, he saw what Sarah was holding. "Are you really going to shoot me? Are you crazy?" She gave him a glare that said she was anything but crazy. "Okay, okay, I'm coming." Quickly, he jumped from the couch and scurried towards the bed, obeying her orders. When she saw that he was well tucked in and wasn't about to leave, she put the gun back on the stand and got back in the bed.

Smiling at her small victory, she concluded, "Good night, Chuck."

* * *

Casey was skimming through files and files filled with different spies that would be the 'perfect' candidate for the new Intersect. Every single one looked like a great spy and was great at what they do, but the only way Casey was going to be able to tell if they are right for this job, is to meet them. He didn't want another hot-head because it would just lead to another Bryce incident happening. Knowing that looking through these files wouldn't do him any good, Casey called General Beckman and requested the transfer of these agents to Castle so he could thoroughly interview them. She agreed and told him that she would give Agent Walker eight weeks of convalescent leave in order to recover from the incident. She would send different agents within the week to replace Bryce Larkin and Daniel Shaw. He was about to have to do his least favorite job; recruitment.

* * *

Jessica was outside the thick door that led into Daniel's temporary room. She had a questioning look on her face when she found her boss walking out of the room. He had no reason to be in the room, she was taking care of everything he needed. "What were you doing in there?" She snapped.

"There is no need for jealousy, Jessica. I was just talking with him." George Carter, her boss, said calmly.

"I know you were doing more than 'just talking with him'. What did you ask him?"

"It sounds like you already know the answer to that." He said as he turned to walk away. She grabbed him by the shoulder.

"You offered him a job, didn't you?" She said with a sad look on her face.

He turned to face her with a stern, yet gentle look on his face. He lightly grabbed her shoulders. "Jessica, look at me. _Look _at me." He said and she obeyed. "This is what is best for him. Would you rather have him arrested? What about on the run for the rest of his life? Is that what you want for him? I know you care about him and that's why I did this. Now you don't have to let him go."

She nodded her head and opened the door to Shaw's room. He saw that she looked hurt and asked, "Are you okay?"

Jessica forced a small smile. "I'm fine. How about you? Are you in any pain?"

"Nothing I can't handle." He grinned and sat on the edge of his bed. They began talking about life and different missions they'd been on. For Jessica, Daniel started out as the key to a simple infiltration mission, but now he has become something more; _someone _more. Sometime between her meeting him at the hospital the first day and when he was trapped in the door, she had grown to care for Daniel. For Shaw, Jessica started out as the girl with her gun pointed at his mother, but she had transformed into a woman with feelings and a heart. He was growing fond of her caring, yet intense nature. Neither of them truly knew what they're doing.

* * *

Sarah woke up with the sun shining through the large window. About to cuddle under the blankets to block the light, she froze as she found Chuck's arm wrapped tightly around her waist. She smiled, thinking about the lengths she had to go to for him to actually get in the bed. She spun around and snuggled into his chest. His chin sat above her head and his arm pulled her closer to him. While he slowly slid his hand up and down her back, he could smell the fresh strawberry scent of her shampoo. They stayed like this for a while until Chuck had to get up. When he pulled his arm away from her back and began to swing his legs off the bed, he heard Sarah whimper and grab hold of his shirt. Immediately, he wanted to lie back down and never leave, but he knew that he couldn't. "Why are you getting up?" She whined.

"My bladder is demanding use of the bathroom." He grinned and took hold of her hand and squeezed lightly. He stood from the bed and walked stiffly towards the bathroom; his muscles still tight from hours of sleep. Once he relieved himself and washed his hand, Chuck looked at himself in the mirror. His hair was beginning to cover his eyes and his stubble was forming into a beard. Rubbing his hand on his cheek, he decided to go get his traveling bag. He left the bathroom and smiled to himself when he found her curled in a ball in the middle of the bed. As quiet as possible, he grabbed his bag and went back into the bathroom.

Chuck searched through his toiletries until he found what he was looking for. Gripping the shaving cream and razor, he began removing his new beard. When he finished, Chuck rubbed his hands on his smooth face and then started rummaging through his bag again. He pulled out a pair of scissors and grabbed a chunk of hair hanging over his eyes and began cutting. Before he knew it, he had transformed from bum-looking, to a good looking guy. He pushed his hands through his hair and rubbed back and forth, ruffling it up to get out the loose hairs. The length was now about halfway down his forehead, which was short enough to slick it back to change up his appearance, but long enough to have it down without getting in his eyes. Chuck brushed his teeth and took a much needed shower. While showering, he wondered what they were going to do today. They were currently in one of the greatest countries in the world-Italy-and they could do anything they wanted.

After his shower, Chuck felt mentally and physically reverberated. He wrapped a towel loosely around his waist and left the bathroom, only to find Sarah sitting on the edge of the bed in a bra and underwear. He choked on air at sight of her. She giggled to herself, knowing completely the effect she had on him. "I don't have any clothes." She whined then bit her bottom lip. Sarah pushed herself off of the bed and walked towards Chuck staring directly into his eyes. When she reached him, she grabbed onto his towel and kissed him passionately. "I like your new look." She whispered and dug her hands into his hair. He tossed her onto the bed as she nibbled on his earlobe. When she took his towel with her, Chuck knew that they weren't going to be exploring Italy anytime soon.

* * *

A/N: Yayy, happy ending, but next chapter I'll try and get a good cliffhanger! Also, thanks so much to all the reviewers who are leaving awesome comments and a thanks to all of the people that keep coming back to read chapter after chapter! Review your feelings!


	13. The New Recruits

August 27, 2009

Glendale, California

Castle

8:25 am

Casey stood tall and strong in front of a line of four stiff and straight-faced agents. He had thoroughly read through all of their files and had interviewed each one personally. These agents would be the best addition to team O Mellor. However, he needed to narrow it down to two out of the four agents left. The female farthest to his left was agent Carina Miller; she was tall and thin with straight red hair. Carina had been on a team with Walker several years ago along with a few other female agents. She then worked for the DEA and was said to be a 'skilled, but impulsive agent.' Casey wasn't looking to put an impulsive woman on his team, but her success rate spoke for itself. Next to agent Miller stood Agent Alexandra Forrest of the CIA. They were equal in height, but Forrest had dirty-blond hair and a more defined muscular build. She also had excellent marks on record for weaponry and she answered every question Casey asked her almost exactly how he would have. Cole Barker was an agent for Britain's MI-6, who had sent him to America to help take down Fulcrum. Because of the mutual goal in mind, the government was now working with the British government in hopes of taking down Fulcrum. His records reported that Cole was 'excellent at hand-to-hand combat' and that he 'exceeds in the infiltration and inducement of enemy personnel.' The last agent was Jill Roberts, CIA. She had been recruited right after college with the help of Bryce Larkin. When Bryce had been a newly minted spy, only six months out of training, he told a CIA Director of the benefits of making Jill Roberts an agent. She was extremely skilled in evolutionary biology as well as computer technology. He also claimed that she was 'coming very close to finding out that I'm part of the CIA'. Director Graham denied Bryce's request at first, but later acquiesced because of ties she had to an 'Uncle Bernie' who was rumored to have deep connections within the newly discovered rogue-spy organization known as Fulcrum. Casey knew she was a well trained agent, but the team would also benefit from her intelligence in science and technology.

The final round of tests were to decide which two agents would become the new members of team O Mellor. Casey had his hands behind his back as he paced slowly back and forth, eying each agent. "Today will be the last day of testing. I will be analyzing all of you in small arms, hand to hand combat, special weapons, interrogation, and profiling. I will select two of you to join team O Mellor. The other two will be flown back to D.C. immediately to await further instructions. Understand?"

"Yes, sir." The four said in unison. Casey held a clipboard containing evaluation sheets for each agent.

Scanning the top sheet, he mumbled, "Forrest." When he advanced down the hallway, she proceeded to fall into step behind him. When they were both out of sight, the other three agents subconsciously relaxed. Carina was the first to break from their line and sat on the metal table several feet behind them. Crossing her legs and examining her nails, she said, "So, Roberts, you're the computer geek here, right?"

Jill frowned and retorted, "No, actually I'm a-." When Carina's eyebrows lifted in a – just answer the question, I don't want to hear your life story – kind of way, Jill sighed and said, "Sure."

When Carina didn't respond any further, Jill just rolled her eyes. The last person she wanted to be paired up with on this team was Carina – that was, assuming she was selected herself. Carina had this self-confidence that suggested she was better than everyone else in the room. This, no doubt, came from the fact that she has the body of a super-model and the face to go with it. Although, if she was put on the team with Forrest, it would be just about as bad. Forrest was a stickler for the rules which made everyone around her feel uncomfortable and under scrutiny. She wouldn't mind being paired up with Cole, but what girl wouldn't. He had a rough, Rambo like look to him, with his muscles bulging from underneath his shirt. And he spoke in a low, British accent which made her want to melt. Fortunately, her training has allowed her to hide her brief infatuation with the Scottish agent.

Jill's thoughts were immediately directed to Carina who had in the meantime moved from her seat on the table towards Jill. Carina stood close to the brunette agent and spoke in a quiet voice, "Do these cameras have microphones?"

"No," She said at a normal volume. "These cameras are only used to record video feed, no audio."

"Good, now I can finally relax without worrying about the two people with sticks up their-"

"Asses." Cole chimed in.

Carina laughed delicately, "Yes. Without Forrest and Casey in here, we can ease up a bit."

"Indeed."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Mary! I found it! Come here!" Stephen yelled from his seat at his desk. A few seconds later, he heard the fast-paced footsteps of his wife.

"What is it?" She said, standing at the door.

"It's the Intersect, Chuck's brain, everything. I know how to fix it. I know the problem and I know how to fix it." After weeks of staring at brain scans and performing tests, he had finally found what he was looking for; a solution.

A huge smile appeared on Mary's face. She knew her husband was brilliant, but this was beyond accomplishing something for a mission, this was for their family. "How will you fix Charles?" It sounded so terrible to be referring to her son as an object, but the mere thought that his brain could be repaired made her forget to think through what she was saying.

He snatched a loose piece of paper from his desk and grabbed a permanent marker. "We can make a small device that will help regulate the flow of information from the Intersect." He quickly sketched his idea of what it would look like as well as where it would be placed. "It would be implanted here." He pointed to the base of the skull with his marker.

Mary sighed in resignation and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hon, this will take a long time to build. Not to mention, you'll need to run tests on lab mice, or something. I want this to work, I really do, but the whole idea seems like something from one of your science fiction movies."

"Mary, you don't get it! I just need the right materials and equipment. The rest is actually quite simple. The only problem is that I can't run any tests, as Charles is our only Intersect."

"Stephen, this is our _son_ you're talking about, not one of your toys. I don't care what you have to do, but you'll find a way to run trials before you go opening our son's head." Her voice was sharp and stern; the attitude of an angered mother.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

It was now almost ten at night and Casey was looking at the results from the agents' tests. He had sent them all back to the hotel, so he would have time to choose which agents would be best for this team. The first papers he grabbed were Agent Forrest's. She was a good shot, but not exceptional. Her combat skills were better than most. She knew her way around a combat knife. She was average at profiling; she would have been better if she was better on the computer. For the most part, Casey liked her. She was professional and good at her job.

Cole Barker's assessment was next. His hand to hand combat was his best ability. He had managed to take down the Major in less than a minute- Casey grumbled at the mere thought of it. Barker was better with a pistol than he was with automatic weapons and knives, but skilled at all of it.

Agent Miller had an interesting interrogation tactic that was both sexy and terrifying, but was highly affective. After seeing her interrogation technique, her knowledge of knives became all the more horrifying. John Casey wasn't afraid of much, but he knew how dangerous beautiful women with sharp objects could be.

Jill Roberts; smart, tech-savvy, excellent at profiling, and a good interrogator- no doubt from being in some sort of debate team throughout high-school and college. She was a decent shot just as she was a decent fighter. Both skills were enough to keep her in a fight, but she wouldn't last long.

Once he made his decision on which agents to keep, he immediately went into the conference room and called up General Beckman to tell her which agents would become the newest members of team O Mellor.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Three Weeks Later...

"Yes, General, I returned from my trip today. I'll come to Castle after I take my luggage back to my room."

"Good to have you back, Sarah." The sincerity in Beckman's voice made Sarah smile to herself.

When she hung up her phone, she walked to the entrance of the airport where Chuck was getting a cab for them. Or _trying_ to get a cab. She let go of her luggage and watched as he scrambled back and forth, attempting to stop one of the drivers. Sarah just laughed at the geeky side she had discovered within him over the past month. He was mysterious, intelligent, strong, and handsome. But he also read comic books, knew a vast amount about pop-culture, and was better with computers than most of the government's computer technicians.

When he ran to try and stop one of the cabs, Sarah caught sight of a poorly dressed man with a large, gray beard grabbing hold of Chuck's luggage. She knew it was his because of the Justice League sticker on the front of it. Rolling her eyes, Sarah walked in front of the retreating man.

"Drop the bag." She said, rather annoyed. The raggedy man in tattered clothing shot his eyes in either direction. Then, with a look of defeat on his face, he took his hand off of Chuck's luggage. When Sarah went to reach for it, he grabbed her arm and threw her to the side. "Chuck!" Sarah yelled as she fell to the ground. She was back on her feet in a flash and ran towards the homeless-thief. The bag and his age slowed him down, letting Sarah catch up to him easily. Swiftly, she reached for his leg, causing him to tumble face-first into the cement. Chuck ran up behind them and found what appeared to be a helpless man, sprawled out on the sidewalk. Chuck frowned at Sarah and helped the man up. He slipped the guy a twenty-dollar bill, grabbed his bag, and asked, "Was that really necessary?"

Now walking side-by-side back to where Sarah's luggage had been left, she bumped him with her shoulder. "He tried to steal your bag and then pushed me over, so yes, it was necessary." Chuck glanced at her and saw a pouty look on her face.

"I think you're just upset because he made the impenetrable Sarah Walker fall down." Chuck had a goofy grin on his face. He liked when he had the opportunity to tease Sarah; this way he could see the vulnerable side of her.

She defensively retorted, "I was just being humane, I could have laid him out in seconds."

Chuck wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her in. She leaned her head on his chest and put her arm around his back. "I know you could have," he whispered and placed a kiss to the top of her head.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Shaw's leg was healing, slowly, but still healing. He wasn't able to walk on it, but his condition had improved enough that he was now able to move from his bed into a wheel-chair. Jessica told him it was time that he started some of his psychological training, since any physical exercise was out of the picture. She had already helped him get into the wheel-chair and now stood behind it with her hands on his shoulders. "Are you ready?" She whispered into his ear.

"As I'll ever be. Did you have to go through this?"

She was relieved that he couldn't see her face, because a pained look was apparent. "Yeah."

Somewhat confused by the short answer, he asked, "What kinds of questions did they ask you?"

"It's really none of your business!" She snapped and stopped one the guards that was walking by. "Take him to testing room four." The guard nodded, and watched her storm off in the opposite direction. The man began to push Daniel toward the testing room.

"What's her problem," Shaw mumbled to himself.

The guard turned around to make sure Jessica was out of sight before he whispered, "I hear that the CIA really screwed with her head."

Shaw turned to face the guard. He was young, maybe in his mid-twenties, and had blonde hair that nearly covered his eyes. His voice sounded like someone who just got out of college. "What did they do?"

"They say that she was married to some other agent, her partner or something. A couple years down the line and they popped out a kid. This wasn't just some normal kid though, no, he was like some child prodigy. He was an eight-year-old Bill Gates. I guess one day he just disappeared." Shaw was shocked not only by what had happened to her, but also how nonchalant this guard was about telling her tragedy. "After a few years, the husband was close to findin' out who took their kid. He thought the government took him to use as their lab-rat. If he was already so smart, think about what he would be like when he was older, y'know? The husband said he had proof that the CIA took his boy, and he was gunna do something about it. The only problem is the CIA got to him first. They burnt their house down with him in it. Jess came home one day to find firetrucks at the house and her husband burnt to a crisp."

Shaw couldn't speak with all the emotions flooding through him. Jessica had lost her whole family in a few short years. The worst part though, was that she believed the CIA waas responsible and he couldn't help but believe it, too. The government had assigned him to do some pretty questionable things in the past, and killing a man to protect themselves didn't surprise him at all. He was surprised by the guard's attitude towards it all. The kid was telling it as if it was a ghost story at a camp fire, and he was trying to spook his friends.

Thankfully, they arrived at the testing room shortly after so Shaw didn't have to stir in his own silence for much longer. But now he had to endure a whole new type of misery; psych-testing.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Chuck had dropped Sarah off at her apartment so she could report to Castle. She walked on the hard tiled floors of the lobby and had a gleaming smile for everyone around. For one of the first times in years, Sarah Walker was sincerely happy. Finally she had someone to have meaningful fun around, to be herself with. To say it was getting serious was a lie, because she was never one for such a large commitment. It was the good thing about Chuck, there didn't have to be any labels to what they were. They filled the void in each other's lives, but didn't require any extra responsibilities. Each of them had enough responsibility with the vocations they chose.

Once Sarah got to her room, she dropped off her luggage and grabbed her car keys. As much as she dreaded reporting to work every day before her trip, she was now quite excited to go back. She practically skipped through the parking lot to get to her sleek, black Porsche. During her drive, her thoughts shifted often, but they mostly revolved around Chuck. Before going to Castle, she took a right into a Dunkin' Donuts parking lot. On her first day back it would be nice to make a good impression with Casey; large coffee, black. The line was long, but her patience was higher than usual, not to mention Beckman didn't seem to be in a great hurry for her arrival.

The brunette woman in front of her looked familiar, but Sarah couldn't get a good look at her because she was talking on the phone. She only heard bits of the conversation, but she recognized her from somewhere. Although, she was in Los Angeles, it could have been someone she saw on the television. 'No, Devon, honey. Just way until I get home, okay? Yes, I love you, too. Alright, bye.' She didn't remember anyone with the name Devon, but she did remember the girl's voice. Sarah was pondering the different places she could have seen this woman, when she turned around. The brunette immediately smiled and said, "Sarah...Walker, right? From the hospital."

A proverbial light went off in Sarah's head, Doctor Woodcomb - the wife of the doctor that had done surgery on her. "Yes, I remember you, Dr. Woodcomb. How's your husband?"

"He's good that was him on the phone, actually." The doctor said while holding up her cell phone. "But call me Ellie, please. How are you feeling?"

"Better. A month in Europe has a way of rejuvenating the body." It was so simple to talk to Ellie, she seemed to have an ease about her.

Ellie flashed a big smile, "It's better when you have someone to spend it with you, huh?" She lightly nudged Sarah.

Shock filled the blonde's face. "W-what?" She asked nervously. If this normal citizen could figure out she went on vacation with a guy, then Casey and Beckman would see right through her.

"You're glowing. Not many things can make a girl look as happy as you do; a month in Europe with a really hot guy is one of those things."

Sarah had been in many situations where she had to act her way through a social interaction; she'd seduced arms dealers, schmoozed senators, and fooled the police, but having this conversation with Ellie was completely out of her territory. She laughed uncomfortably, "You caught me."

"What's his name?"

She thought about her answer for a moment and decided that telling her Chuck's first name couldn't hurt. How many Chucks lived in the Los Angeles area, anyway? At least a couple hundred. "His name's Chuck." Sarah was excellent at picking up on small hints of a change in attitude. Ellie's face changed into a frown for a moment before she collected herself and forced a smile. "Are you okay?"

Ellie nodded. "Sorry, I just knew a Chuck once."

Sarah was back in her comfort zone. She was good at extracting information from a mark, except this time it wasn't a mark and she wasn't forcing the information out of her. "An ex?" She said and placed a comforting hand on the brunette's arm.

"Oh, no, not an old boyfriend. My brother, actually. Long story short is that I wanted to settle back down in our hometown and start a family, but my parents and Chuck decided traveled the world. The few times we all got together, we just fought, so we gave up and all stopped communicating. It's been a couple of years now." She wiped the tears that had slowly been building in her eyes with her sleeve. She had no idea why she was being so open with Sarah. Probably because she was so easy to talk to, there was no judgment in her eyes. "I'm sorry I just dropped that bomb on you, I don't know what came over me."

Sarah lightly squeezed her arm, "If you can't open up to an old patient, who can who open up to?" This caused a small laugh from Ellie. Sarah smiled, today was a good day.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

In a good mood, Sarah entered the steel doors of Castle and skipped down the stairway. She sipped her coffee until she saw Casey enter into the conference room where she was standing. Smiling, she handed him the coffee she ordered him. "'Morning Casey."

He glanced skeptically at her, "What's wrong with you, Walker? Did you hire a European prostitu-"

She choked on her coffee and glared at her partner. "Casey! Really?" Shaking her head she walked towards her office and mumbled, "Enjoy your coffee." Casey sipped at the beverage that Walker gave him. He nodded his head in appreciation. He tapped a few keys on the keyboard until he had a conference call with Beckman up-and-running.

"Major." The General said and nodded her head in a greeting. "Is Agent Walker here yet?"

"Yes, she's in her office, General." Before she could respond, a scream came from the direction of Sarah's office.

"Major Casey! Major!" The screams came from a woman other than Sarah.

Beckman smirked. "It sounds like Agent Walker found one of her new partners. Bring them both in here, Major."

Casey nodded and marched toward her office. When he entered the door, he found the girl on the floor with her face pushed to the ground by Sarah's foot. The woman's arms were pinned behind her back with Walker's gun against her neck. Once she saw Casey, she sighed in relief.

"Casey! I found her coming out of Bryce's office." Sarah said without moving from the woman.

"It's Larkin's _old_ office. Meet your new partner. The other one's in Shaw's old office." Casey walked out of the room and yelled down the hall, "The General wants you both in the conference room!"

Sarah went wide-eyed and made no attempt to get up from the girl. She was snapped out of her faze when the girl spoke in a slurred voice because of her face being pushed against the tile floor. "I'm Jiw Wabers, you mus be Sawa Woka."

Sarah just gave a confused look, until she realized that she still had her foot on the woman's face. Quickly, she got up and tucked her gun into the back of her waistband. She stuck her hand out to help her new partner up. "Sorry, are you okay?"

"I'll be fine. I'm Jill Roberts." The brunette woman said and smiled as she took Sarah's hand and pulled herself up. "You must be Sarah Walker."

Sarah nodded and noticed that Jill had a nice smile and a gentle nature about her. She didn't seem like a very experienced agent; she was too innocent to be an experienced spy. The last thing she wanted to do was have to train an agent. Because of the agent's young, smiling face, Sarah couldn't help but flash a smile back at her. "Welcome to the team, Agent Roberts."

They arrived in the conference-room and Beckman greeted them. "Agent Walker, Roberts, Barker." Sarah furrowed her eyebrows and turned around to find a tall, muscular man standing in the doorway. He had several days of stubble built up on his face and several scars to prove he'd been in his share of fights. "Because of the removal of Larkin and Shaw, team O Mellor needed several more members. I ordered the Major to recruit two new members, and Agent Roberts and Agent Barker were found best fit for the positions. Now that the team's put together, it's time for your first mission."


	14. Trust Me

A/N: Sorry this took so long. Consider that my hiatus. I've been busy with work and life. Hopefully my uploads will become more frequent but for now, I hope you enjoy the chapter.

* * *

September 18, 2009

Glendale, California

Castle

12:35 pm

"…and now it's time for your new mission." General Diane Beckman paused to make direct eye contact with each member of her team. "Finding Daniel Shaw is your number one priority. He was a member of this team and it's our responsibility to clean up the mess he made. From the information we have, we must assume that Shaw is alive and rogue. I've transmitted files over on all of Shaw's previous missions and his profile for our new Agents. Any questions?"

After a brief pause, Barker spoke up. "Do we have any leads, any starting point?"

"Your starting point is to read every one of those files. I need you and Roberts to know everything about Shaw." She paused once again to leave room for any more pondering questions, but none were spoken. With a nod in conclusion, she pushed a key on her keyboard and the screen returned to the NSA logo.

Sarah was the first to leave the line of agents standing in front of a blank monitor. She stalked out of the conference room and down the hall to the dojo. Everything that had happened with her team was a lot to handle. She thought that she had dealt with all of her problems with the disintegration of her team when she was in Europe…when she was with Chuck. But the reality of the situation is that everything was falling apart.

Taking a right, she walked into the locker room and opened the only occupied locker; her own. However, with a new female team member, she wouldn't be the only one taking up space in the woman's locker room. She grabbed her set of workout clothes from her locker. Pulling up her shirt, favoring her wounded side, she discarded it and turned to inspect her stomach in the mirror. It was almost completely healed. The only problem was that the scar would always be there as a reminder of betrayal. Slowly, gently, she ran her soft, warm fingers over the small dent in her otherwise flawless skin.

The thing she hated most about this tiny imperfection is it's meaning to her personally. She knew that it was the beginning of her team's decay. First Bryce's insanity, then Daniel's disappearance. Trying to consider the fact that Daniel went rogue was incredibly difficult for Sarah. She has very few people that she can trust in this world and her partners have always been people she's had to trust, or it could cost her life.

The creaking of the locker room door opening startled Sarah out of her faze and she noticed she was standing in the middle of the empty room with just her bra and pants on. Not wanting a confrontation with the new member of her team just yet, she snatched up her gym clothes and walked to another section of the room to dress alone. Once she was finished, she walked out of the locker room into the dark dojo.

* * *

Castle's dojo was dark, apart from a light in the far left corner of the room. It sprawled a long shadow across the matted floor of a woman with clenched fists; this new team member immediately intimidated Jill. Agent Walker might be Jill's 'colleague' on paper, but she knew that Sarah Walker was her superior. Not only because she had more experience and years as a spy, but her whole presence was one of a true leader. Unsure of how to proceed and not wanting to make a bad first impression, Jill cleared her throat. Sarah turned around in a relaxed manner, which surprised Jill. From what she had heard, Sarah Walker was one of the best spies, but wouldn't any great spy have reacted more quickly to her presence in the room?

Jill watches Sarah approach her and as soon as she comes within two feet of her, Sarah throws out a punch to Jill's face causing her glasses to shatter and fall to the floor. Surprised but not frozen, the brunette uses her forearm to block the next blow from the blonde. As soon as Sarah shoots another punch towards Jill's face, the victim takes hold of the attacker's fist and twists quickly, rapidly. Jill kicks the front of her shins and watches as Sarah slams onto the floor. However, she has a quick recovery and swings both of her legs in an arc and sweeps Jill's legs, causing her to fly onto her back. Sarah pounces and pulls the brunette's arm behind her back and slams her face into the ground. Knowing there was going to be no way to break free of Sarah's pin to the padded floor, Jill relaxes and attempts to catch her breath. She hears her opponent whisper "Not bad" as she releases her grip on Jill's arm and stands. Sarah put her arm out and grabbed hold of Jill's to pull her up. Then she bent down and lifted the broken glasses. Handing them to the brunette, she said, "Sorry about this, I just needed to see what I'm working with. And I'll pay for those…" Sarah said sheepishly, gesturing to the glasses.

"It's no big deal. I've been thinking about contacts for a while anyway." With a nod, Sarah left the dojo. She wasn't in the mood to deal with other people. Walking into the locker room, she was startled by the presence of Cole Barker.

"Sorry, didn't mean to surprise you, Love." He spoke slowly in his masculine, British accent.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" Sarah spat out, annoyed by the new team members interrupting her schedule.

"I was going to work off some energy with you, but I seemed to have entered the wrong changing room." He said charmingly, with a small curve to his lips.

"Seems so. And I work out alone." She said curtly as she passed by him to grab her clothes.

"Ouch." He slurred out while putting his hand lightly on her stomach. His eyes caught sight of her almost-healed bullet wound. "You in any pain, Love?"

"I'm fine, _Love_." She retorted and walked to the other section of the locker room, and he was smart enough not to follow.

* * *

September 21, 2009

Burbank, California

Grocery Store

12:46 pm

It was a hot, sticky September day and Chuck stood in a long line waiting to be checked out. Wiping the perspiration from his brow, he glanced at his watch wondering when he could get out of this air condition-less store. He was at the very end of the line for this cash register and held a small basket of groceries for his parents. As he repetitiously tapped his heel to the floor, the light of a nearby register flicked on and his eyes popped wide open. "Register five's open." Said the cashier less than enthusiastically. By sheer instinct, Chuck jumped out of his place in line and began speed walking to the new register. Unfortunately, his un-coordination kicked in and he stumbled over his own feet. Normally, he would have caught himself before he hit the floor, but instead he toppled into a magazine rack and fell face-first into the tile floor. Many children giggled and pointed and got scolded by their parents who were trying not to laugh themselves. One man checked to see if Chuck was okay, but no one made an effort to help. Chuck looked in front of him at his groceries sprawled across the floor and sighed loudly. Just as he retrieved his basket from the floor, a brunette walked over and bent down picking up his assortment of items from the ground. He grabbed the last of the items and straightened, smiling.

"Thank you," he said sincerely while flashing one of his large grins.

As she straightened and smiled back, she giggled, "It looks like you're more of a klutz than I am." Right as Chuck caught glance of her entire face, his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he flashed. Agent Jill Roberts, CIA, Project O Mellor. When the flash was over, Chuck shook his head, ridding himself of the dizziness. As soon as his mind was clear he realized something important;_ Project O Mellor_. That was Sarah's team! But he knew of all Sarah's team members, and this woman wasn't one of them. In fact, Sarah was the only woman on her team. Although, with the absence of Larkin and Shaw, it would make sense if they recruited new Agents. Wouldn't his parents have told him of a change in their team?

Before he could finish processing the thought in his head, a delicate hand was on his arm, steadying him. A concerned look spread across Agent Robert's face. "Are you okay?" She asked. She grabbed the basket from his hand and led him to the doors of the grocery store. "I think this heat is getting to you. Have you had any water today?"

Still shocked by the coincidental nature of this whole situation, he sputtered before answering, "W-what? Yes, I've had some water."

"Are you sure, you don't look so well." She went to grab something from her bag and Chuck immediately tensed. Maybe she knew who he was and she was reaching for her gun. He wouldn't be surprised if their boss has briefed them on his situation and flashed his picture on the monitors a few times. This would mean he would be stuck in their containment cell again, but this time he would have to pretend he didn't know who Sarah was. He would have to pretend he hadn't vacationed with her in Europe, that he hadn't seen every beautiful inch of her body, and that he wasn't completely in love with her. Wait, in love? Was he in love with Sarah? He knew that he cared about her more than he did most people, but love? Before he could delve any further into that lingering question, he remembered what was immediately pertinent. The gun. As she was about to pull her hand from her purse, he grabbed her wrist and watched as she gave him a shocked expression. "It's just a bottle of water. I was going to drink it later, but I think you need it more than I do."

Surprised by the innocence in her expression and voice, he let his hand slide away from her wrist as he accepted the water and unscrewed the cap. The whole time he was taking generous gulps, he made complete eye contact. As he pulled the bottle away from his lips, she asked, "Would you like to go out for some lunch." When he hesitated to answer, she continued, "Just so I could make sure you're okay." Normally, he would have politely declined that invitation, but something made him change his mind. Utter curiosity, maybe? He wanted to see what exactly was going on with Agent Jill Roberts. Did she know who he was? If she did, she wouldn't be able to pull a gun on him because she doesn't have one with her. When she pulled the water bottle out of her purse, he couldn't see any weapon. No one would be able to wear a sweater or jacket on a day like today, so she would be unable to hide a weapon under her small t-shirt or shorts.

Instead of using his usual response, he said, "That sounds great." Followed by one of his signature smiles. As they walked to a nearby restaurant, they talked about their occupations – all of which were fake. Jill apparently was a paper-pusher for a small business while Chuck worked for a computer company. This however, seemed to interest Jill. She must be the tech-savvy member of the team. He knew Sarah was good with computers, but not good enough to understand much technology talk. Jill, on the other hand, was starting conversations relating to computers, hardware, etc. He was impressed and now eager to go home and read her file to see what subjects she excelled in.

They entered a small restaurant and somehow sidetracked onto the subject of computer and videogames. She explained that her friend used to play Zork and that she used to play video games in high school and college. She seemed like she was telling the truth, but Chuck found it highly unlikely, as much as he wanted to believe what she was saying. Unfortunately, the likelihood of an agent for the CIA to play text-based video games like Zork is very low. But she did seem to know a lot about what she was talking about, so maybe she was more sincere than he first perceived. Needing to know more about this situation before he continued any sort of real conversation with Jill, he said, "I need to run to the men's room." Once out of sight, he pulled out his phone and sent a message to Sarah.

_Do you know Jill Roberts?_

He was relieved when she responded a few minutes later, not wanting to take too long in the bathroom.

_She's one my new partners. Why?_

At least now he knows that his flash was correct, but he still didn't know if anything she was saying was remotely true.

_I'm eating lunch with her._

Chuck smiled as he sent the message and right as he was about to leave the bathroom, his phone vibrated.

_Don't screw with me, Chuck!_

He wrote back one last response, laughing to himself.

_;]_

It was rare that he could fluster or even get a shocked reaction out of Sarah, so he was going to enjoy this moment to its fullest. He knew that she was probably in her office or hotel room pacing back and forth, wondering if he was being truthful or not. Going through scenarios in her head until she found one that suited her. After this he'd drive over to her room and explain everything, but for now, he was going to enjoy making her wonder.

Once he got back to his seat, he saw that their food had been delivered and he decided to enjoy the meal and the rest of the conversations as if they were completely normal; as if he didn't know that she worked for the CIA and that he was currently being hunted by them. What he thought was going to be a meal of investigation turned out to be something he enjoyed because real or not, the Jill Roberts he was talking to was a lot like himself.

* * *

Sarah was going over some files on Shaw when she heard the door to her room open. Instinctively, she reached for the knife on her ankle holster. Ready to throw her weapon at her approaching target, she stopped mid-movement when she saw who it was. When Chuck's face appeared from around the corner, she immediately relaxed and put her knife back in its rightful place. Quickly, she remembered his text from earlier today and her mood suddenly flipped. She retrieved the knife again and stood. She began running her fingers along the sides of the small silver blade, careful not to touch the sharp edge. As she walked closer to him, she avoided making eye contact, purposely making him uncomfortable. Once she reached him, she slowly, carefully slid the side of her knife down Chuck's chest. As the silver edge reached the bottom of his shirt, she put the blade against the first button of his button-up shirt and popped it off. She continued popping each and every button off with the blade of the knife until he was left with his shirt wide open. Chuck looked down, astonished and scared. He knew Sarah's interrogation techniques weren't always orthodox and he wasn't about to experience the blunt of her anger while she had a knife in her hand. As she was about to bring the knife blade to his bare chest, he flashed. Immediately he brought his hand up and clenched her wrist and twisting her forearm until she released the weapon and yelped out in pain. If it were anyone else but Chuck, she would have fought back full force. But it was Chuck, and she backed down.

He bent down and lifted her up over his shoulder with much protest from Sarah. Chuck ignored everything she said until he plopped her down on the bed and sat next to her. "Now, what's wrong?"

"Hmm, I don't know. Maybe you went on a date with another woman. You went on a date with another _CIA agent._ You sent me a cryptic message telling me you were going out with my partner. And then you didn't care to explain what was going on."

"We never did label our relationship, so I suppose I'm allowed to go on a date with another woman."

"Oh, well I didn't peg you as the type of man to have sex with more than one woman at a time, but if you don't do some fast talking, I don't think that will be a problem."

"This is a new side to you, Sarah Walker. Jealousy." Chuck scooted closer to her on the edge of the bed and wrapped his arm around her shoulder as he kissed the top of her head. "I would never cheat on you; even if we don't label our relationship." For a second, she relaxed into his embrace until she realized that she wasn't finished, she still hadn't gotten any answers.

Sarah sat up straight and put on a stern expression. "Explain. Everything."

Of course, Chuck obliged.

* * *

Shaw's leg was healing, but he still wasn't able to walk. Everyday, Jessica and a personal trainer would come in and slowly work his legs, increasing muscle. In the past few days, he finished the psych-evaluation. It was an invasion of privacy and complete misery. Having someone probe into your thoughts to find out if you're the right person for Fulcrum wasn't Daniel's idea of fun. However, now that it is over with, he can focus on getting his leg thoroughly healed. He was beginning to cope better with the idea of not being a government agent. It was what he worked towards for so long, the only thing he was able to strive for; to be a better agent. But now he wasn't an agent, he was on the other side. Somewhere the line became blurred and he crossed over to 'the bad guys'. Although, he wasn't entirely sure if Fulcrum was the bad guys. They didn't do everything like the government did, but the CIA had Shaw do some shady things in the past. He was beginning to think that he just joined the good guys.

The door to his room opened and he saw Jess's face. He had been transferred to a larger and more comfortable room. It had a television, loveseat, double bed, mini-fridge, and small bathroom. He was currently located on the loveseat with his injured leg propped up on an ottoman. The television was on even though he wasn't watching it. Jess came in and sat down next to him. She lightly bumped her shoulder against his and asked, "How are you doing?"

"Good, the leg is feeling better. The therapist says that in another week or so, I'll probably be able to start walking on it with crutches."

"One step at a time, Daniel." She said sweetly as she lightly placed her hand on his propped leg, rubbing it slowly up and down. If he didn't have his leg numbed most of the time, he probably would have a larger reaction to her soft touch, but the doctor often gave him medication later in the day to help deal with the pain. Right about now, he wished that he wasn't on any medication, because he yearned for her touch. He had grown close to Jess over the last couple of months and he couldn't help but smile every time she came in the room. It was difficult enough being partners with an extremely beautiful woman; the fact that Sarah had chosen Bryce over himself was always a large blow to his ego and his feelings. Now he was incredibly attracted to this woman, physically and emotionally, but he couldn't make his move for two reasons. One, because his legs had seized to work and he didn't want to make her deal with the obligation to take care of his broken body; she often did it anyway, but he didn't want to put her in the position where she was forced to take care of him. Two, because she became a widow several years ago and he wasn't sure if she was ready to move on; he didn't want to be the one to rush her into something she wasn't ready for, especially since he was actually beginning to care for her.

When Jessica caught sight of Daniel staring at her hand on his thigh, she slowly lifted it and pulled her hands into her lap. Sighing, she said, "I know you won't be looking forward to this, but it's time to start a new section of your training. First you'll be working on identification. Do you think you're ready for it, or do you need a break? Because I'm sure I can get the boss to hold off for a few days if you need it."

"No, let's just get this over with, shall we?" She nodded and brought over his wheel-chair and helped him onto it. It was time for Daniel to face an all new battle, but at least he has someone to go through it with him.

* * *

After Chuck told Sarah everything about his interaction with Jill and she was thoroughly satisfied with his answer he got up from the bed and walked over to the table Sarah was working at. When he began looking at the files on the table, Sarah got up from the bed and said, "You probably shouldn't be looking at that," as she tried to pull the file out of Chuck's hands.

He gave her an incredulous expression. "Sarah, I could easily go onto my computer and get these files." He said tapping the folder onto his hand.

"I don't need you looking at _my_ files, if you want to go home and illegally access government files, then go ahead."

Putting the file down on the table he turned and put his hands on her shoulders, "I just want to help. I know what happened with Shaw. Just let me in, Sarah."

She sighed and lifted her hand to her forehead. "Chuck…this is my job. It's all I have. I can't lose it. I'm already risking it by being with you. Without my job, I have nothing." He looked at her face, all her vulnerability showing. He pulled her in and tenderly kissed her. Slowly he pulled away and leaned his forehead against hers. "You have me. I won't leave you with nothing. Never."

Looking into his rich, brown eyes, she lifted her head and kissed him passionately. Lifting her hands to his neck, she let one play with the hair on the nape of his neck while the other pulled his head down to hers. He grabbed her by the bottom and lifted until her legs twined around his waist. Kissing the soft skin at the base of her neck and trailing kisses down her collarbone, he fell backwards onto the bed. As she began nibbling his earlobe and kissing the sensitive skin below his ear, Chuck flipped her from on top of him so he was leaning over her. "Sarah." He whispered. _Mmmm, _she purred seductively. "I need you to trust me."

"I do." She whispered into his ear while playing with the hair on the back of his neck. "Always


	15. Communication Failure

A/N: THIS IS AN URGENT AUTHORS NOTE! For all of you that read the old version of this chapter, I'd like to let you know that this is much, much different. There are only about one or two small scenes that are the same from the last version of the chapter. To understand what happens in the next chapter, you'll have to read this one first. Thanks to everyone who gave me there opinions and helped me through this next chapter. Thanks to **uplink2**for the great review and thoughts and thanks to **Gladius Grim** for beta and guidance.

I hope you all enjoy this version of the chapter more, especially since I do.

* * *

October 12, 2009

Glendale, California

Bartowski Home

5:56 pm

Chuck sat in a room surrounded with computer monitors from one of which he watched spoke in smooth, feminine tones as he was encompassed in complete darkness aside from the ambient glow of the monitors. The corner table of the office held seven empty Styrofoam coffee cups ignored as he took a sip from his eighth, his eyes still glued to the screen. He'd been searching continuously for the past two days trying to find a solution to his problem. In reality, it wasn't remotely his problem, it was actually Sarah's problem; Team O'Mellor's problem; the CIA's problem, but he didn't have much else to do. So assisting Sarah's team was on the top of his 'To Do' list. The tricky part was that Sarah didn't know that he was helping her, and if she did, well he could imagine that she would be livid, but he justified to himself that what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her. And it wasn't as if he was lying to her, because he hadn't spoken to her in a few days; ever since he began searching for Shaw.

By the looks of the recent history on her computer – he had hacked into it to find out what she had uncovered of Shaw's whereabouts so far– she hadn't done much digging into the mission. The first day, Chuck did a complete scan of the CIA regional database that he was able to hack into along with those of the NSA and FBI. He knew the most pertinent information would be in the CIA's database, but he needed to check all of the available Government's databases, just to be sure. He spent the second day, along with the majority of the third's trying to break through some of the CIA's firewalls protecting additional top secret information, but still no luck. Chuck sighed, rolled his shoulders feeling the tension, as he pushed away from the desk. Shaw was a ghost, there hadn't been anything on him other than old mission and personnel files. A complete professional, and knowing all of the rules. Chuck didn't know how, but the man had managed to disappear. But he couldn't be gone, Chuck grimaced, Shaw had to be out there somewhere.

More than anything, Chuck wanted to track him down – not for himself, but for Sarah. All she could do was stand and watch as her team deteriorated before her eyes. Men she trusted, cared about, turned on the government – turned on _her_. But it's all part of the risk of being a spy, or that's what Chuck believed she was telling herself. It hurt, being betrayed and additionally let-downs hurt and Chuck knew she was trying to hold this pain internally. Chuck had tried to get her to vent to him, express her emotions, but as a spy she had been trained to keep quiet; to keep everything locked up tight.

Chuck began to massage his forehead when he thought of an idea. It was definitely not a choice he entirely fond of, but it was for Sarah, And he'd do anything for her. So as he rose from his chair and headed out of his office – it's time for him to ask his parents for help.

* * *

Jess had left her room to catch up on some old paperwork in her office, only to be stopped short by two burly looking agents. "Can I help you?" She asked with an annoyed bite to her tone.

One of the men spoke up, "The boss would like to speak to you. It's about Shaw."

"Why wou-" She was cut off as each man grabbed one arm and pulled her down the hallway. "What the hell are you doing? I can walk on my own two feet! Will you two behemoths let me go?" Were just some of the more polite things she screamed as they dragged her to the boss' office. Once they reached the door and lightly tossed her inside, she had an irritated pout on her face as she bent over to smooth out her skirt.

"Ah, good to see you, Jessica. How are you?" The boss, George Carter, spoke smoothly.

"I was just fine until you sent some asshole agents to drag me to your office. All you had to do was call!" She finished straightening out her blouse and fixing her jumbled hair.

"Oh, I know, but this is more fun, isn't it?" A smile formed on his face. "Now I'm sure you're wondering why I had you sent here..." He trailed off as he stood and grabbed a bottle of scotch from the corner of his large office. He held up a glass in question to Jessica, when she shook her head; he shrugged his broad shoulders and poured himself a glass. Bringing it back to his desk, he continued, "The CIA has put out a search for Daniel Shaw, which was expected." He took a sip, eying Jessica's reaction from over his glass, "However, there seems to be other sources looking for your friend, as well."

Puzzled, Jessica asked, "What exactly do you mean by 'other sources'?"

"We've watched as countless numbers of Shaw related government files have been hacked in the last three days. No one on our crew could trace the signal. Whenever any of our men tried to find the origins, the signal was bounced all over the world and eventually reversed back to this location. Whoever is searching for our boy, they haven't found him yet, but they're good. "

After contemplating the new information for a moment, she continued, "And what does this mean?"

"My dear, it means that I had to come up with a plan. And you play an important role." He gave a sinister smile as he finished off the last of his scotch.

* * *

Shaw awoke to the sun shining brightly through his bedroom window, squeezing his eyes shut against the glare. Ever since he'd become a part of Fulcrum, they'd continuously given him more; more food, more therapy, more accommodations. That's more than he could say about the CIA. When he finally opened his eyes he carefully stretched out, his arms above his head and one leg – his injured one – being favored. He was healing at a rapidly now. His leg wasn't good enough to walk on by itself, but all he needed was a pair of crutches.

Once all of the early-morning fog had been cleared form his head, Daniel looked around his room to find Jess standing in the doorway, leaning casually against the frame. She was smiling – her beautiful, luminescent smile. He hadn't lately been able to frown at the sight of her. Her smile, her long, brown hair – soft to the touch, her body – thin, lithe muscular definition, perfect. She was perfect.

She didn't say anything, just admired his sleep mangled, silky hair. His muscular body, his broad jaw, and his eyes – mysterious, but kind, gentle.

He was beginning to get out of bed as she caught a glimpse of his toned chest. She then stopped him from getting up. "Stay here." She whispered sultrily.

"But isn't there work to do?" He asked, reaching for his crutches.

While shutting the door and flipping the lock, she answered, "Nope. No work today. I asked them to give you a day of rest. Ever since you've been able to walk, you haven't relaxed at all." She walked, slowly, to the edge of his bed. Her pencil skirt outlining every curve of her long, shaped legs. Her blouse was unbuttoned to show as much cleavage as possible without completely exposing herself. "And I'm here to fix that," She purred as she inched closer.

"I've been sitting with a broken leg for the past couple of months. I don't think I can sit still any longer." He complained.

"Well, I'm sure I can allow you to do some of the work..." She trailed off, as she lightly pushed him back into a lying position and straddled his waist. She brought her mouth down to his and slowly, softly kissed him. Catching on, he slid his hands into her hair and pulled her head closer to his own, kissing her with all of his pent up energy. His mouth found the crook of her neck and he removed his hands from her hair, moving them down her back. They found their way up her shirt to unlatch her bra. Unsatisfied with his speed, she quickly unbuttoned her shirt and hiked her skirt up to allow immediate access. Smiling, he continued his slow pace, wanting to savor every moment with her, wanting their first time to be special.

* * *

Sarah was pacing, to-and-fro in her office at Castle, unsure of what to do next. She needed to find Shaw, she needed to continue her mission, but so far no one on the team has come up with anything. But this wasn't like every other mission; this one has too many dead ends, too many open spaces. She had spent the last three hours on her computer and she needed a break, something to take her mind off of all the questions floating through her head. In her mind, there were only several options.

The first was to shoot something, always soothing. Secondly, she could continue the search for Shaw; not something she was overly enthusiastic about, but it had to be done. And lastly, she could continue pacing relentlessly through the small area of her office. Sighing, she collapsed into her desk chair, propelling it backwards as she sat. She sat slumping her shoulders as she rested her head in her hand. Sarah then caught sight of something form the corner of her eye and spun around, finding no one other than John Casey standing in her doorway. Casey was the only other member of her team that she felt remotely comfortable with. She lifted her right foot onto the chair and wrapped her arms snugly around her leg, resting her chin on her knee. Casey took several steps into the room, thumbs in his pockets.

"What do you think of the new recruits?" He asked glancing curiously around the room, not making eye contact.

"I sent my report with my full evaluation in to Beckman this morning." Sarah's voice took on a professional tone whenever she spoke with Casey or any of her superiors.

"I don't want to hear your report; I want your opinion, your non-altered opinion." Casey said, now making eye contact and keeping it.

"I...well..." Sarah stumbled, attempting to hide her disapproval.

"Spill it, Walker." Casey grunted.

"Sighing, she admitted, "I find Cole cocky and inappropriate," Casey scoffed. "_More_ inappropriate than Bryce. And Roberts is young. She's going to need a lot of hardening before she is what we need as an agent."

Letter her words set for a moments, Casey finally nodded his head in approval. Without any further words, he turned and walked out. Confused, Sarah jumped out of her chair and leaned out of her door. "Casey, wait!" He stopped mid-stride, but didn't turn around. "What do you think?"

Smirking to himself, he began to continue his stride and said, "Couldn't agree more."

* * *

Chuck walked quietly to his father's office door and thought about knocking, but decided to just go in. He cracked open the door and stuck his head in briefly, only to find his father looking questioningly at him. He opened the door completely and took a step in, hands in his pockets. Unsure of how to go about asking for help, Chuck stood silent until his father spoke up. "What do you need, son?" Stephen asked as he pulled a chair up and motioned for Chuck to take a seat.

Chuck complied and finally spoke, "I just-...I'm here to-...Could you-..."

"Just spit it out, Charles." Stephen clasped his son's shoulder reassuringly.

"Will you help me?" Chuck asked, looking at the floor.

Stephen can't remember a time where Chuck has actually asked for help. Even when he was a boy and couldn't open the box of cereal, he would search the house to find something to assist him, but he never asked for help. Taken aback, he responded, "Of course, son. What do you need help with?"

"I need you to help me find information on Daniel Shaw."

"Daniel Shaw, from Team O'Mellor, Daniel Shaw? CIA agent, Daniel Shaw?" Stephen asked, shocked.

Sighing, Chuck continued, "Sarah's team is trying to find him, but they've had no luck. I tried my shot at it, and I can't find any leads either. I've been hacking into the CIA's secured files, but it's taken a lot of time and I haven't gotten any closer. I just don't know what to do next."

Stephen thought about this for a moment, knowing right off that it was a bad idea to get in the middle of government missions. Especially, ones having to do with rogue agents, but his son had never asked for help until now, so it must mean a lot to Stephen. "I'll see if I can find anything. I'll start looking now, and you go tell your mother what's going on, okay?"

Smiling, Chuck stood up from his chair and said, "I will. Thanks dad."

* * *

Casey walked back and forth through the main room of Castle, hands held behind his back. He was waiting for Cole to come back from the dojo so they could have a man to man talk. Cole walked through the door, hair still wet with sweat, a towel draped around his neck.

"What're you doing, Casey?"

"Oh, I just want to have a chat, that's all."

Suspicious, Cole complied, "Okay, what do you want to talk about, John?" He pulled out a chair and sat backwards in it, his arms resting on the back of it.

"You know Agent Walker. Smart, a great agent, attractive...right?"

Cole slowly nodded, "Where are you going with this, Casey?"

Casey suddenly stopped his pacing and slammed his fist on the metal table in front of Cole, "What I'm saying, is that you're _not _going to mess with Walker. You will act professionally around her and you will act like her partner, _not_ her boyfriend. Do you understand me?"

Cole wasn't as much frightened, as he was surprised, "And what are you going to do if I don't understand?" He said, testing the boundaries of his new partner.

"You might have been top field agent in MI-6, but here you're nothing. On this team, you're a rookie and you'll respect your partners because here, you're no better than anyone else. And if you don't understand _that_ then you're undeserving of your position on this team." Casey finished and began to ascend the stairs leading out of Castle.

Smiling at Casey's approach, Cole asked, "Why do you care what I do with Walker?"

"She has enough assholes in her life, she doesn't need any more."

* * *

A knock sounded on Chuck's door while he was close to opening another file from the CIA's database. "Come in." He said, his eyes stilled trained on his monitor, his fingers still flying. Stephen Bartowski took a step into the room holding a manila folder in his hand.

"Charles, I think you're going to want to take a look at this." He said, waving the folder in his hand.

"Hold on, this will only take a minute..."

"Son, I ha-"

"I'm almost done..."

"I have information on Shaw, Chuck."

Chuck immediately froze and ignored what was happening on his computer screen. He turned slowly his chair, eyeing the folder. "Really? How'd you find it so quickly?"

"There is a leak running through the communications for the higher-ups in the CIA. The leak is about Shaw."

Chuck quickly rose and held his hand out for the folder. "What is the leak about?"

"It's an address, but son, I don't want you rushing into this. It's not your mission." Stephen spoke with the words of a father.

"I won't rush into anything. I'll come up with a plan."

"Why don't you just send an anonymous tip to the CIA? Team O'Mellor will go after him, case closed." He said, trying to persuade his son, knowing that it was no use. Chuck was always known for being stubborn and trying to prove himself.

"Because either they'll go in, guns blazing and scare Shaw away or they'll get themselves hurt." Chuck's voice went soft in the last part of his sentence.

"Are you really worried about the team getting hurt, or _Sarah_ getting hurt?" Stephen let his son think about this and walked out of the room. If his son is going to risk himself for this girl, then he better come up with a damn good plan.

* * *

"Casey! Casey, I think I found something!" Sarah clicked furiously on the mouse, trying to navigate through the information she had just discovered. It was an address of Shaw's location. But this information was strange because it just appeared on their radar. She didn't find it digging through top-secret files, but happened to stumble across a message from one agent to another.

"What did you find, Walker?" Casey asked, the curiosity obvious on his face.

"This," She pointed to the message and then to a map she had just brought up on a separate monitor showing the building that the message says Shaw is in.

"It looks like an old factory."

"That's because it is an old factory. It got shut down after a fire burnt out the inside in...2001." She continued typing on the computer, trying to reveal more information.

"But why would Shaw, be hiding out in an old factory?"

"And who found this information?"

Casey began searching for some information on another monitor. "The leak has no sender, it's marked as anonymous. I'll get Roberts in here to see if she can find anything." He walked off looking for Jill.

Sarah studied the note and the map. She knew something here didn't seem quite right. The address belongs to a factory in Los Angeles. Shaw would have been smart enough to leave the city at least. And what use would a factory serve him, besides being abandoned? Once Jill walked in, Sarah hoped they would find some answers. She and Casey hovered over Jill, waiting to see if the answers to their questions would miraculously appear. However, after a half-hour of hovering, they both slumped into nearby chairs and read over some related files. It wasn't till after two hours had passed that Sarah and Casey decided to get something to eat.

"Roberts, we're going to get food. You want anything?" Sarah asked while walking up the stairs of Castle.

Eyes focused on the screen, she spoke, "I'd love a sandwich."

"What kind?"

"Turkey, please." Jill said, smiling. It wasn't until they brought up the subject of food that her stomach began to growl. She was good with computers, but sometimes she just lost track of time while using them. Unfortunately, she still hadn't been able to find who sent the Shaw message. She had made progress, but was still no closer to finding the answer.

* * *

After all the hard work Chuck had put into finding where Shaw went, his father looked for a day and not only found an address, but the name of the man who sent it, his files, and a blue-print of the building Shaw was supposed to be in. The man who sent the message about Shaw was Special Agent George Carter; CIA. As soon as he looked at the man's file, Chuck flashed.

George Carter, Special Agent for the CIA

Failed mission in Madrid. All associated agents dead, aside from Carter.

Psychological Therapy – nine months

Coordinates: Unknown.

Retired

Chuck tried to make any connection with this man to Shaw, but couldn't find any. The last time Special Agent Carter was seen was after a mission in Madrid, Spain that went south. Every man on his team was killed except for himself. He was forced to take nine months of psychological therapy to aid with Post Traumatic Stress. As soon as this was finished, he retired and hasn't been seen since.' But what does any of this have to do with Shaw?' Chuck pondered quietly.

He then read the file on the building. Staying in an old factory seemed strange to Chuck. Shaw must be doing something that required a lot of space, and he mused that the abandoned factory would help with that issue. Everything, still very indefinite at that point; Chuck didn't know how the information had been found, why Shaw would stay in the factory, or even why he hadn't left the state much less the country.

Before going and storming the building, Chuck knew he had to create a plan – a very good one, at that.

* * *

A plan, they needed a plan. But what? The leak had been so open-ended that the plan has to be thorough, well thought out. It has to be smart and inclusive, but that was hard to do when the information's sketchy, at best. Jill was still typing away at the computer, yet to have found anything additional to be of help. Casey was in the other room briefing Cole on the situation while Sarah tried to devise a plan. So far, no luck. The boys walked in a few moments later, and Casey walked up to an empty computer. "Walker, Beckman wants to have a conference call."

Nodding, she walked to her place in front of the monitor, positioned in between Casey and Cole. "Roberts, let's go!" Casey snapped. Jill got into position right before Beckman's face popped on the screen. They all nodded in greeting and waited for her to speak.

"Good work on finding a clue towards capturing Shaw. We've had no luck in confirming if Shaw really is in the building. That's where you come into play, team. You'll be doing a surveillance mission to verify that Shaw is really in the factory. This, however, is a _surveillance_ mission only. Understood?" When she received a nod from all team members, she asked, "Any further questions? Good. Discuss the mission, study the blue-print's to the factory as well as the layout of the surrounding buildings and streets. The mission is tonight." Without any indication of goodbye, she ended the transmission.

'Well, that's a plan,' Sarah thought.

* * *

Chuck peeked around a bush giving him cover from the factory. The back of the building only had a few shattered windows, the rest were completely blackened. Unlatching a hook on his utility belt he then pulled out a pair of binoculars. Trying to get a better look into the building through the broken window panes, but grimaced as he came to the conclusion that the windows had been blocked up by something. Before advancing towards the rear of the building, he scanned the surrounding area with his binoculars. From what he could see, everything was clear. He hooked the binoculars onto his belt and fixed a black hat onto his head. The rest of his attire was also black to assist him in blending into his environment. Crouching, he moved stealthfully around the bush he had hiding behind runing to the edge of the building.

* * *

Sarah and Cole sat in a black sedan watching the parked diagonally to the factory; Sarah in the driver's seat and Cole in the passenger's. Sarah had a large pair of night-vision binoculars in her hands. They had been sitting in the same positions for about an hour with no sign of anyone in the building, not that it meant anything. The factory was big enough for Shaw to live in several rooms inside of it, and no one could notice. Casey and Jill were positioned on a parallel street facing the back end of the building. So far, they've hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary either.

As Cole sipped at his coffee and held his binoculars loosely in his free hand, he asked, "So Sarah, what was it like working with Shaw?"

Somewhat shocked by the question, she kept the binoculars up to her face to mask any emotions as well as to keep an eye on the factory. The weird part is that she couldn't remember too many bad things about working with Shaw. Sure, he always attempted to flirt with her, but so did Bryce. 'Shaw was a good agent,' Sarah reminded herself; he even had a girlfriend outside of his spy life. "It was fine, he was a real professional."

"You're better than that, Agent Walker. There had to be some secrets about Daniel Shaw that you knew. He's an attractive man and you're an attractive woman..." Cole trailed off, allowing Sarah to realize the rest of his implications on her own.

Once Sarah realized what he was trying to say, she pulled her binoculars away and glared at him. "What are you trying to say, Cole?"

"Well, I just assumed that something might have...happened." He tried to weasel something out of her.

"Nope. Now can you take watch so we don't _miss_ the subject of our now terminated conversation?"

* * *

Chuck stood against the building, his back flat against it. Inching sideways carefully until he reached one of the broken windows. With still no sign of anyone, he grabbed ahold of the window sill to pull him upwards but quickly lost his grip as a piece of glass stabbed into his hand. As he kept from screaming, Chuck painfully clenched his teeth and squeezed shut his eyes. Before he had the time to think too hard on his predicament, pulling the shard of glass from his hand. He then pulled open one of the compartmenta of his utility belt and grabbed one glove of a pair and pulled it over his injured hand. It wasn't much of a bandage, but it would help stop the bleeding. He soon reachedback up to the window and made sure this time to wipe the sill free of glass. Grabbing hold with both hands, he pulled himself up to get a better look into the window's opening. Half of it was covered by a piece of wood, but he could see into a room filled with scraps of metal and broken machines, but no sign of life.

* * *

"Walker, Barker, We saw movement on the back end of the building. It looked like someone outside of the window." Casey said through the earpieces and microphone-watches they were all wearing.

"Did it look like Daniel?" Sarah asked, immediately putting her binoculars up to her eyes, scanning the surrounding area.

"We didn't get a good look at him, but the person appeared male. Also, he fit the height and build." Jill chirped through the earpiece.

"But we can't be sure." Casey reassured.

"Let's go, then." Cole said and as he unholstered his gun and stepped out from the car.

Sarah watched as he made his way towards the front of the building. Was he a complete idiot? "Cole, what are you doing?" She hissed.

"Getting our guy. Casey and Roberts, you come from the back and scan the surrounding area. Sarah and I will come from the front. Each of us will take a corner of the building and work our way around the yard until we find our man."

"Since when are you giving orders, Barker?" Casey grunted, but got out of the car.

Cole ignored the comment and moved to the left, front corner of the building. "Sarah, you go front, right corner." She reluctantly nodded because they were now committed and rushed to her position, gun in hand.

"Roberts, I'll go back, right. You go back, left." Casey said to Jill as they all assembled in their positions.

"Everyone travel in a clockwise direction until someone spots our guy. Go." Cole said and they began their search. Sarah's heart was pounding in her chest. She knew that this shouldn't be happening. She rarely got nervous on missions anymore and this wasn't a nerve-racking mission. Yet, something about it just didn't feel quite right.

* * *

Chuck heard a voice as he rounded the rear, right corner of the building as he had been heading towards the front. As he found himself in the center of the side of the building, he spied a door and then heard another voice coming from the other direction. He was being boxed in. Quickly moving to the door, he turned the knob carefully and found it unlocked. Unlocked? 'That's strange,' he thought as he entered a dark room and shut the door quietly behind him. He tried to find a lock, but there wasn't one. Pulling out his gun he held it in front of him as he scanned the room, finding nothing of interest. He then made his way to a nearby door, and opened it slowly. That's when everything went dark.

* * *

Everyone had gone around the building several times and found nothing. Cole was disappointed that his plan hadn't showed results, but he soon forgot about it when he found a door on the side of the building. Bingo. "Looks like our guy has an escape route."

"What do you mean?"

"There's a door." Everyone ran to meet Cole on the side of the building by the door. He nodded, about to open it when Casey pulled him backwards. "What are you doing?" Cole hissed.

"Beckman never said anything about going into the building." Casey told Cole.

"Are we just going to let Shaw get loose? I know I'm not going to sit around her thinking about it." Cole said as he was about to turn the knob on the handle. Before he could enter the building, the entire team was engulfed in darkness.

* * *

A/N: Hope you all enjoyed this version more. Thanks for reading and please review.


	16. Blindfolds, Headbutts, and Zipties

A/N: VERY IMPORTANT AUTHORS NOTE PLEASE READ! I re-did the last chapter and it didn't show up as an update, but if you don't go back and re-read the last chapter than you will be very, very confused as to what's going on in this one.

* * *

Chapter 16:

Chuck awoke in a panic; vision black, hands tied. He tried to break through his hand bindings, but he assumed his hands were held together by zip-ties. A blind-fold was tied securely around his head, allowing no room to inch it off of his head. The metal of the chair he was bound to sent shivers down his spine as his sleeveless arms rubbed against it. Who ever captured him must have stripped him down to his t-shirt and pants. He was no longer wearing his shoes, bullet-proof vest, or utility belt. He was shocked when he felt a soft-hand rubbing against his own. There were also zip-ties binding his legs to the chair's legs, preventing him from turning the chair to inspect the person behind him. Who was in the chair behind him? Is it a victim from these people's last torture? When he heard a grunting coming from nearby, he acted as if he were still asleep, not wanting to attract any attention to himself. He couldn't see or move, but his hearing should give him a hint as to what was happening. He heard several more grunts and a shaking of metal. It sounded just like when he tried to break through of the zip-ties. He waited a few more moments, when he heard a voice.

"Walker," A male voice muttered in a low tone. "I got my blind-fold off and no one's in here. If there were anyone watching us from the outside, they would have noticed I got this damn blind-fold off. I think we're clear."

That's when Chuck heard her, "I can't get my blind-fold off and they took all my knives, even my thigh-knives. Do you have someone behind you?"

"Yeah, it's Roberts. She's still out from the tranq."

"Cole, are you awake? Cole?" Sarah asked to the man behind her, she knew from his large hands.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm up." He responded groggily, but Sarah sat shocked.

"Cole...where are you?" She asked hesitantly.

"Over here, strapped to a banister. Where are you and Casey?" Cole asked, his discomfort showing in his voice.

"I'm back to back with Roberts. We're in metal chairs, not likely to break." Casey answered.

"That will make our escape harder..." Cole thought out loud.

Sarah cleared her throat, "Casey, can you see who's behind me?" Her confusion was evident.

Casey attempted to turn around, but couldn't turn enough to see Sarah or the man strapped behind her. "I can't...there's someone behind you?"

"Mmhmm."

"And it's not me." Cole stated, just as confused.

"Nope."

"And it's not Roberts." Casey reaffirmed.

"Who are you?" Sarah questioned, with a hint of anger in her voice, afraid that there was someone spying on them. Under the circumstances, this wouldn't be that big of a deal, except that it lead to two conclusions. Either someone followed them to the factory and was caught with them, which would mean someone knows about their missions and their team. Or it could be one of their captors spying on what they were saying, hoping to get an idea of their escape plan, or any other useful information.

Sarah was strapped behind Chuck, and she had no idea. One problem, he couldn't tell her it was him. It seems that both Team O'Mellor and himself were lured into this trap, but this didn't mean that he wouldn't do everything in his power to keep his and Sarah's relationship a secret. Even if that meant not letting her in on his plan. So he chose to not answer her question; if he stayed quiet, he was safe.

Unhappy with his answer, Sarah grabbed hold of one of his fingers from behind her back and threatened, "Tell me who you are, or I break your finger."

Chuck had to think quick on his feet for this one, his fingers were valuable, especially when he needed to be in full health if he ever wanted to escape from this place. He brought his head forward, then used all of his power to throw his head back, connecting with Sarah's. As the headbutt made a loud cracking sound, her hand released his finger and she let out a stream of expletives. To avoid repeating that encounter, he clenched his fists – no fingers free for her to grab hold of.

"Casey, find out who the hell this bastard is!" Sarah screamed at him.

"What happened?"

"He head-butted me!"

"You did threaten to break his finger..." Cole chimed in, but trailed off when he heard Sarah's growls.

* * *

Chuck tried for another ten minutes to break free of his restraints to no avail. He would wait, wait for his opportunity. During this time, he listened to the many plans Team O'Mellor created. Major Casey suggested breaking his thumbs to escape the hand-bounds. He also suggested for Jill and himself to turn their chairs by pushing against each other. Cole also thought that Casey should break his thumbs and Sarah thought they should wait it out for a while. She knew that their kidnappers aren't stupid. They were able to trap her team and knew how to bind them up effectively. They wouldn't simply allow her team to walk out with no opposition. They needed a better plan if they were going to break out of here and their plan had to be more elaborate than breaking Casey's thumbs.

The door opened and silenced the room. The only member of Team O'Mellor that had a visual on the the person who entered. At Casey's growl, Sarah knew something wasn't right. Casey had to know the person that entered.

"Ah, Casey. No blind-fold? You ruined my dramatic entrance, pity." Daniel Shaw said mockingly as he walked slowly in front of Casey.

"Shaw?" Sarah asked, again trying to wiggle free of her blind-fold.

"Sarah," Shaw smiled walking to her chair. "I've missed you, truly." He slid off her blind-fold and ran his hand through her hair, fixing the messiness the blind-fold caused. Sarah flinched away from his touch. Shaking his head, he continued, "It's okay, Sarah. We're friends, right?"

"What's going on, Daniel?" Sarah hissed.

"We lured you into a trap. We placed the false information in the government servers to lead you right into Fulcrum's trap."

"Fulcrum?"

"We're just a group of government agents that realized who the good guys really are. And you're on the wrong side, Sarah."

"What happened to you, Daniel? There was so much of your blood on that door. How did you get out?"

Daniel ignored the question and asked one of his own, "Who are these new agents of yours? We have a pretty brunette." Shaw pulled the blind-fold from Jill's head and smiled, "It's nice to meet you, Agent Roberts." Walking towards Cole, he continued, "And then there's Agent Barker. Who does he replace, Bryce or me?" Shaw laughed and walked away from Cole after he pulled his blind-fold off. Shaw then walked to the last blind-folded person sitting behind Sarah. "And then there was one. It really is a shock that he's here. I thought he was smarter than that, but I was wrong."

Chuck thought about what Shaw was saying and he was right. He should have been smarter than that. He knew something was wrong with the information and the location of Shaw from the beginning, but he was too eager to help out Sarah to see what was really happening. He was ripped from his thoughts when Shaw slid his blind-fold from his head.

"Why did you try and find me? What did you have invested in finding me?" Shaw asked Chuck. When Chuck didn't answer, Shaw asked again angrily. Still no answer. Shaw brought his fist back and punched Chuck in the jaw sending his and Sarah's chairs rocking. "Answer me!"

Chuck refused to give an answer, he couldn't reveal his and Sarah's relationship because that was his only reason for searching for Shaw. That's when Sarah spoke up, "Cole, who is this guy?"

"I don't know, he looks familiar though."

Shaw laughed, "You don't know?" When Sarah shot him a glare, he laughed harder, "You really don't know. This is great. He was following you guys the entire time and you had no idea. I see who the brains of our team was..." Shaw paced in front of Chuck thinking of his next move, "The problem here, is that I can't think of any reason for you to keep following O'Mellor. You escaped us two times, Carmichael, are you stupid enough to test your luck again? The odds are against you."

Carmichael. _Carmichael!_ Chuck! Chuck's the man behind her? He followed them to the factory? Was he purposely putting himself in danger? Or was he becoming a border-line stalker? He was the one who head-butted her? None of this made sense. That's when the door opened for the second time. Only it was a woman who entered the large room. But it wasn't just any woman, it was Jessica Parker. Shaw's girlfriend? Sarah was more confused than ever as she sat back to back with her boyfriend and watched as her ex-partner glowered over them both. No one having any idea that her and Chuck have any sort of relationship.

The clicking of Jessica's heels became louder as she approached the group. "Hello, Daniel."

"Jess," Shaw nodded in greeting and stepped back, allowing her to take over.

She pulled a knife out of her boot and began twisting it between her fingers, taunting her audience. She quickly struck the knife down on the two zip ties connecting Sarah's and Chuck's chairs, allowing them to separate. Then she grabbed hold of the back of Sarah's chair and yanked it around so she was facing Chuck. They stared at each other for a moment. Sarah's face was lacking any emotion to protect any secret they had left. Chuck, however, gave her a look that screamed, 'I'm sorry.'

As quickly she broke the zip ties, Jess smacked that look off of Chuck's face. Sarah slightly tensed, but was sure to make no outward signs of emotion.

"Charles Carmichael, you are quite the annoyance. It seems that you got closer to finding Daniel than your over here did." She pointed to Team O'Mellor and continued, "But we threw you both off by planting some information in the CIA's data streams. Easy enough. But why, Charles?" She moved her face inches from his own and whispered menacingly, "Why are you here, Charles?"

He didn't respond, he hadn't been responding to anything and he didn't plan on starting now. That's when she backed away from him and sent a full-bodied slap to his face causing the metal chair to wobble. Chuck stretched his jaw and prepared for what was next to come. "Come on, Carmichael. Are you getting paid to be here? Who hired you?" Jessica asked and stomped her stiletto heel onto the front of Chuck's chair, hovering directly over his crotch. Chuck's eyes went wide and he tried to shuffle his chair backwards defensively. Sarah almost giggled at this but protected her cover and stayed professional. Her foot remained in it's position and her face became more fierce, "Who hired you?" She screamed. When the only noise that came out of his mouth was a high-pitched whine, she slammed her heel down. The blood drained from Chuck's face and his body involuntarily tried to get into the fetal position.

Casey stared in shock and even felt bad for the guy. Cole visibly cringed and Jill sat in awe. She had a full view of this man and noticed it was the same man she ran into at the grocery store a few weeks ago. They went out for lunch and he's here? Apparently she can't make any friends outside of the spy world. He must have been following her to get information from Team O'Mellor. Did he bug her phone? Has he been following her the entire time and she not notice?

Shaw grabbed Jessica's arm and pulled her to the side when he saw her fuming face. "What are you doing?" He whispered fiercely into her ear. "You're taking this a little too far."

"I know what I'm doing," She snapped back. Especially when it came to Daniel. Her feelings had grown for him over the months they've spent together, she couldn't let some computer-hacking spy and a group of government agents ruin that for her. She finally found someone to confide in since her husbands death, someone she cares about. "I can handle myself," she finished and turned on her heel.

That's when she got fast jab to the face from a muscular blonde. Her reaction speed was slowed remotely by the amount she was caught off guard by this situation. She received a kick to the stomach before she had the chance to fight back. Her attacker then turned into the attacked when Daniel grabbed Sarah by the hair and flung her onto the ground with no regard to her comfort. The past few months changed him. His feelings for Sarah had dissipated and his feelings for Jess were indescribable. Shaw was about to send a kick to ribs when a metal chair went flying into him. The metal chair also happened to be attached to a body – Chuck's body. Sarah stood and thought of the best way to disable Shaw and Jessica so her team could escape. She remembered him favoring one leg when he was pacing in front of her. Quickly maneuvering her foot onto his thigh and grabbing hold of his calve, she pulled upwards until there was a series of snapping noises and screeches from Daniel Shaw. As she moved away from him to deal with Jessica, she heard a loud crack and turned backwards and saw Chuck recuperating from the head-butt he delivered to Shaw, knocking the enemy out.

"I got him!" Chuck said cheerily but wished he could hold his now aching head.

"Is that your special tonight, the head-butt?" She smiled and continued stalking her new prey, Jessica Ross. The woman ran past Sarah to Shaw and cradled his head.

"Dan, are you there? Daniel?" A shadow cast over her knelt form.

"You're in love with him." Sarah stated more than questioned and saw the desperation in Jessica's eyes. "I'm sorry about this, really." Sarah said sarcastically and sent a brutish punch to Jessica's face; both opponents knocked unconscious. She knew the escape was now what was most important and it was very unlikely that they would make it out of here alive because of the amount of Fulcrum agents that were positioned on the outside of that door. Sarah grabbed the knife from Shaw's pockets and searched both of them for anything useful. She grabbed each of their cell-phones, a pocket knife in Jess' back pocket, and a set of car-keys, but left the pack of gum and toothpick. She went to Chuck first and went on one knee cut him loose from his chair as he lies on the cement floor after his heroic attack of Shaw. "Hold still," She said to Chuck as she cut his ankles loose from the ties and his arms next. "Take this. Go cut Casey and Roberts loose." Chuck nodded and grabbed the other knife.

Sarah went to cut Cole loose from the banister he was attached to. "That was impressive, Walker." Cole said, moving his wrists to get the circulation back.

"Just doing my job. You managed to get us in here, any plans on our escape?"

He contemplated this for a moment and then said, "We could just walk out the door." His tone flat.

"And you don't expect a team of rogue agents on the other side with their guns aimed at our heads?"

"Don't you think they would have came in by now? To make sure their agents aren't dead?"

"Not if they're waiting for us to exit so they have an easy kill." Sarah snapped back.

"Would you rather stay in here and wait for them to come in and shoot. If you haven't noticed there's no windows or other ways out. It's that door or nothing." Cole said pointing at their only exit and stood cockily, knowing he was right.

Before Sarah had time to respond, she heard another cracking of bone on bone, but this time it didn't sound like one of Chuck's head-butts. Her head flipped around and she witnessed Casey hovering over Chuck's body, fist in the air. Her gaze narrowed in on Chuck's eyes as they began to flutter and she remembered the consequences that flashing had on Chuck and the pain it would cause Casey. "Chuck, no!" But she was too late, Chuck flipped onto his feet and threw one foot into Casey's gut and again into the man's knees. Chuck dodged a few of Casey's punches and then delivered three fast jabs that connected with the Major's nose, jaw, and mouth. Chuck finished him off with one high kick to the jaw that sent Casey stumbling backwards into Jill.

Sarah ran and stepped between the two before anything else began to happen, "Casey, enough. He hadn't tried to hurt any of us until you punched him. Let's just worry about getting out of here." The entire team, plus Chuck, grouped up around Sarah to come up with an escape plan.

Rubbing his jaw, Casey said, "We have no guns, no shoes, and no idea who's on the other side of that door. We're screwed."

Cole spoke up, "We have to get out somehow. Two people can take the left, two the right, and one person will open the door. If there is a team of Fulcrum agents on the other side, then we're screwed anyway."

"He's right," Chuck agreed, "We need to try to escape. If we're lucky, then there are only two men on the other side of the door and we'll take them down."

"Let's go," Sarah said gripping her knife in a throwing position as Chuck did the same. Sarah and Cole stood on the right, Casey and Jill on the left, and Chuck opened the door on the count of three. "1.2...3." Chuck flung the door open and they were ready to attack when they were met with an empty parking lot, aside from one black sedan. Sarah and Chuck checked around the corners of the door, but didn't see any signs of life. They all walked out to the car and saw the sign over the building, 'Landmark Storage'. "They brought us to a storage building?"

"With no backup?" Jill piped in.

"Let's not push our luck," Chuck said and grabbed the keys from Sarah's hand and jumped in the driver's seat of the car.

"I'm driving." Sarah yelled to Chuck.

"You're going to have to beg." Chuck said jokingly.

Sarah walked sultrily towards the driver's side window and rested her arms on the door. "And plead?" She spoke slowly.

"And ask real sweetly." He smiled smugly to himself, but frowned as he went to put the keys in the ignition and saw a delicate hand holding them. He glared at her but it turned into a smile as he got out of the car and ran for the passenger's side. "I call shotgun."

"Not gonna happen. Get in the back, Carmichael." Casey said and pushed him away from the door and sat down.

Chuck frowned but obeyed. Jill, Cole, and himself all squished into the backseat, putting Chuck in an awkward position. He was sitting next to a government agent that he went out to lunch with, behind a bear-like man that wanted to eat him for lunch, and had a good view of his girlfriend that began driving the sedan down the street. But the trick was, none of these people could find out that Sarah is his girlfriend.

"Where are we?" Cole asked as Sarah began driving.

"The GPS says were only a few blocks away from the factory. We'll go there and get our vehicles and then head to Castle to check for any bugs on the cars."

"And what about Carmichael? Who is this guy, anyway?" Cole asked curiously.

Jill added defensively, "Yeah, who are you?"

Sarah made eye-contact with him through the rear-view mirror and had a humorous look in her eyes that said, 'good luck getting out of this one'. Casey also waited expectantly for an answer.

Chuck sat stiff as a board, eyes bulging wide. How _was_ he going to get out of this one?

* * *

A/N: Thanks for reading. I hope you all went back and re-read chapter fifteen and saw how different it was. I hope you liked that version better and hope you liked this chapter. Drop a review if you will, because they are what keep me going. If it weren't for people asking for faster updates than this chapter probably wouldn't have come out for another few months. Thanks to everyone who has stuck around for sixteen chapters and is still reading with pleasure. All of you have improved my writing and story-telling abilities and it means the world to me. One day when I write a best-selling novel (which, one day, after aplenty of writing classes, I will write that best-seller) I will be sure to thank all of the people that got me started. You all gave me that first push to do better and write better and I appreciate that. Thank you.

Kayla


	17. The Tranq Gun

A quick review of what happened previously on Chuck vs. The Butterfly Effect…

Bryce went nuts and tried to kill Sarah and is now in a jail/mental institution.

Fulcrum was threatening to kill Shaw's mother if he didn't cooperate with them and they sent one of their agents – Jessica Ross – to act as his girlfriend in order to get into Castle's databases.

Shaw almost got his leg cut off by a big metal door while on a mission for Fulcrum and then during the healing process decided to join Fulcrum. Now, him and Jessica – a couple, are working to destroy team O'Mellor.

Chuck's parents were helping him out with some of his Sarah problems.

Chuck went on a lunch date with Jill in order to see what Sarah's new team member was like.

O'Mellor went on a mission to a mysterious factory to capture Shaw, but were captured themselves by Shaw.

Chuck went on the same mission in order to help Sarah, but was unaware O'Mellor was there at the same time. He was also captured.

With some crafty skills, they escaped and threw Jessica and Shaw into the trunk of their car and began to drive off.

There was just one problem..all eyes were now on Chuck. Who is Carmichael, anyway?

* * *

October 13, 2009

Burbank, California

Castle

6:57 pm

Chuck sat on the familiar, cold bench that filled the metal holding cell in Castle. He banged his head lightly against the wall behind him and waited for something to happen. For anything to happen. So far, no luck. He'd been sitting in the same position for the last four hours. Since he has escaped from this cell once before, O'Mellor took extra precautions. They've had agents posted on watch duty the entire time in shifts. They stuck him with the rookies first and posted Jill Roberts outside of the door. She was the guard on watch of not only Chuck, but also the unconscious Shaw and Jessica in separate cells. Instead of keeping a close eye on the holding cells like any normal guard would do, she shot daggers with her eyes towards Chuck's head. She sat on her own metal bench, arms resting on her knees, and glowered at Chuck.

"Why did you go out to lunch with me?" She spoke up, after what seemed like an eternity of silence.

Chuck looked at the brunette with a questioning glare for a moment before answering, "Not because you're a spy and not because I wanted to kill you. You were nice to me and I decided to pay back the favor. So, I brought you to lunch."

"How could a coincidence like that happen? It's very unlikely." Jill sniped back.

"A smart woman once told me that she didn't believe in coincidences." Chuck glanced slightly up towards the holding cell's cameras, smirked and hoped Sarah was watching.

"Why are you such an enigma? I don't understand. Casey said that you've escaped this cell once before. You've had several encounters with the team, but haven't killed or severely injured any of the agents. You helped Larkin and Walker when they needed to save Casey and Shaw from the Russian mobsters. And you show up at one of our missions to capture Shaw, yet you also get caught. For the super-spy you are, you don't seem to be very good at staying away from O'Mellor."

"Yeah, I should probably work on that." Chuck vaguely answered. He wasn't going to give up any more information than he was willing to Jill Roberts - no matter how innocent she seemed. "Do you think I could have something to eat? A candy bar, maybe?"

"Sorry, orders from the bosses are to keep you starving until you start talking." Jill looked apologetic. For an agent of the CIA, she wasn't hardened at all. She was like a child, following orders, but unsure of why.

"Figures...Which boss? Walker or Casey?" Chuck questioned.

"Casey. Probably shouldn't have punched him so hard back at the factory, huh?" She snorted.

Chuck sighed and leaned back knowing it was going to be a long night. "I should have punched him harder," he joked. He closed his eyes - not to sleep, but to grasp onto the few precious moments of alone time he could have, while surrounded by watchful CIA agents.

* * *

The team had already briefed Beckman on what happened the night before and Cole was sent home as a consequence. He was sentenced to a week off the job for disobeying orders. After he stormed off out of Castle, Casey and Sarah were left alone in the conference after Jill was sent on babysitting duty.

Leaning on the nearby table, Casey crossed his arms and asked, "So, what do we do with Carmichael?"

She couldn't let her feelings for Chuck get in the way of her decision making process and she spoke as any professional CIA agent would. "We'll hold him and wait until he talks. We'll have to keep constant watch on him after what happened last time he was locked up in our holding cell."

Casey nodded in agreement and continued, "And what are we going to do with Shaw and his little girlfriend?"

"We're going to have to question them too. But we need to keep them separated. Having them together could allow them to plan an escape. It should be easier for us with Shaw's leg being injured. We don't have to worry about him running very far."

"I don't want to keep them here long. We'll give them another tranq so they don't wake during the night, but tomorrow I say we question them, get the information we need, and then turn 'em over to Beckman and she can do what she wants with 'em. I can hardly look at Shaw without wanting to hurt him. I can't imagine what will happen if he stays here for more than a few days." Casey said.

"He had his chance to be a part of the best team the CIA has and he walked away from that. He doesn't deserve to be here." Sarah snapped.

Casey nodded and walked away from the table and paced slowly between the door and the large monitor on the wall. "What do you want to do about babysitting duty? Roberts can't do it all night."

Sarah went to stand by the door about to exit as she answered, "I'll go catch a few hours of sleep and come back at eleven and I'll take the night shift so you and Roberts can get a nights sleep."

"Alright Walker. Thanks." Casey watched as Sarah exited the conference room and rubbed his face with his hands. It had been a long couple of days and he was ready to sit down with a glass of whiskey and fall asleep. His phone ringing interrupted him from his thoughts and he saw that it was Roberts calling. "What's wrong, Roberts?"

"Jessica is waking up and demanding to talk to someone. What do I do?" Roberts asked somewhat frantically.

"You wait. I'll be there in a second." As Casey approached the holding cells, he found Jessica Ross up against the glass banging her small fist demanding food and attention.

"What do you want, Ross?" Casey calmly asked.

"How about some food!" Jessica hollered.

"Good one." Casey scoffed. "Care to try again?"

Jessica began screaming a list of curses that even Casey blushed at as he opened her cell door and restrained her easily. He pulled out the tranq gun he had in his waistband and shot several of the tranqs into her, knocking her unconscious. As a preemptive strike, Casey shot a few tranqs into Shaw while he was still asleep and hoped it would last a few more hours.

The rest of his night at Castle dragged on but without incident, as he switched guard duty with Roberts and sent her home. He never tried to make small talk with Carmichael, nor did Carmichael say anything to him. Casey never fell asleep, even as his eyes fluttered in an exhausted haze. Carmichael did appear to fall asleep on the floor about halfway through his babysitting duty. Casey relaxed a little bit more, but he didn't let his guard down. This was Charles Carmichael he was watching over, after all. You can't be too careful with him. He already escaped from Castle once with ease, who knows how easily he could escape this time? But it didn't even appear as if he was making any effort to escape. He just…slept.

Casey wondered why Carmichael followed them into the factory in the first place. He wondered why Carmichael was so interested in Team O'Mellor. He wondered how Carmichael found out the information he did. If he was skilled enough to get a hold of CIA information effortlessly, why is it that he was so susceptible to capture by their team? Is he just not careful enough? Is it on purpose? Is he not meant to do field work? He could just be a computer nerd. Casey's idea wasn't that much of a stretch. Carmichael has been able to get access to all of their information, yet has been captured by their team more than once. However, that didn't explain his excellent close-quarters combat skills.

Casey caught his eyes from closing on him when he heard the door to Castle whoosh open and a clicking of heels coming down the metal stairway. Walker came striding in looking much more refreshed than he had seen her several hours ago. "Walker." Casey said in a greeting and stood stiffly from the chair. "I gave Ross and Shaw a tranq a few hours ago, but they might wake up sometime in the next few hours. You can just knock 'em out again. We don't need to talk to 'em tonight, we'll interrogate them each in the morning. Carmichael shouldn't give you any problems, he didn't say a word the past couple of hours. I think he's asleep now, but don't let your guard down. We can't let him slip out again."

"Understood. I'll stay on guard duty until…" She stopped to look at her watch and saw that it was eleven ten at night, "…six AM and then Roberts can come back in. I'll let her know. You go home and get some sleep, Casey, you look horrible."

"Thanks, Walker." Casey grunted and with a nod left Castle to go to his apartment and left Sarah alone with Shaw, Ross, and Chuck.

Sarah sat in the metal chair and watched Chuck's body rise slightly and then fall as he slept on the floor. His breathing steady and smooth. She waited at least a half-hour before she went to a nearby computer monitor to turn the cameras in Chucks cell on a loop of him sleeping. She then set a quiet alarm to go off on the monitor if the doors to Castle opened. Sarah walked up to the glass door to Chuck's holding cell and lightly pushed her hand against the glass and smiled. Confident that she had taken enough precautions to ensure that Casey or Roberts wouldn't walk in on her without her knowledge, Sarah opened the door to Chuck's cell and walked a few steps in, her heels clacking softly on the hard floors. Frowning, she turned on her heel and went quickly into another room to grab a few items. She reemerged with a pillow and blanket as well as a glass of water and a candy bar held between her teeth.

She sat on the floor next to Chuck and placed the glass of water and candy on the ground, the pillow and blanket in her lap. She brought her hand to Chuck's head and lightly ran her fingers through his hair. He must have cut it recently, because it's shorter than she remembers it. His back muscles showed strength through his light t-shirt. Sarah grabbed the blanket and draped it over Chuck to cover most of his body. As it hit him, he jerked awake and would have jumped upward if it weren't for Sarah's gentle nudge back to the floor. "Hey, sleepyhead," she said with a smile as she grabbed the glass of water and handed it to him.

Chuck smiled back his big, goofy grin and took the glass. "Hey. So, it's your turn to babysit me, or have you come to interrogate me, because let me tell you. It won't work." He said with a playful tone.

"Really? So if I offered to give you this pillow, you wouldn't talk?" Sarah responded playfully.

"That's all you've got? A pillow. Please…You can do better than that."

"Hmm…What if I offered this candy bar?" She dangled it just out of his reach and grinned as his eyes followed the sugary treat.

"Y'know, I'm really not that hungry. Good try, though."

"How about I put this pillow right here…" She said as she scooted the pillow under his head and gracefully maneuvered her way over his him as she straddled his waist, "…and I sit right here…" She trailed off as her lips found the sensitive skin behind his ear and made her way down his neck.

Chuck's body shuddered in pleasure as he closed his eyes and sighed at the contact. He slid his hands up and gripped her waist to flip their positions. Chuck, now laying on top of her, coyly asked, "Do you do this to all of your prisoners?"

"Of course." She whispered in his ear.

"Good. I don't want any special treatment." He kissed her passionately and pushed his body against hers — not wanting any space between them. He drew back from her only to ask, "What about the cameras?"

She pulled his lips back to her own and kissed him before whispering, "Took care of it."

"And if someone walks in?" Chuck questioned in between meetings with her soft lips.

"Took care of it." She answered again, slightly annoyed. She pulled his shirt up over his head and ran her hands languidly over his muscled chest.

"But what if Shaw or Jess-" Chuck began to ask before Sarah cut him off.

"Chuck!" She reached behind her back to pull a tranquilizer pistol out of her waistband and waved it in front of his face. "Do you want me to use this on you?"

"Well, when you put it that way…"

"Shut up." She retorted and kissed him hard and long. They spent the rest of the night on the cold floor of Castle, without any disturbances from Team O'Mellor or the Fulcrum agents in the two surrounding cells.

* * *

Cole Barker stood to pull his pants on as he watched the red-headed woman get out of his bed and reach to put her bra on. He didn't even know her name. She was the red-headed woman. He found her at the bar last night after he was sent out of Castle by Beckman. What was the point of being a part of the best team that the CIA has if he couldn't take a few risks? If he couldn't go past the limits to get results. They did get results. None of them were hurt, they captured agent Shaw and his girlfriend along with Carmichael. That is a win in his book. Not only did they catch the rogue agent, but they caught his evil girlfriend and the infamous Charles Carmichael. Who cares what it took to get them, the point is that they _did_ get them. That's all that should matter. But instead he was suspended for a week in order to learn from his mistakes. He was supposed to learn not to disobey orders from his superiors. Bullshit. This shit never happened when he was part of MI-6.

The red-headed woman, now dressed in last night's clothes, put her hand on his cheek, kissed him lightly on the lips and walked out of his hotel room. At least he had something to do to relieve the stress of the previous day. He can only imagine one better way of spending the night, and that would be with Sarah Walker. He would have a lot of fun with her. She's been playing a really good game of hard to get, but he hasn't lost yet. She's probably sitting in her hotel room right now, alone and looking for company. One of these days, she'll come to his hotel room looking for someone to talk to. And then he'll have his night. It'll happen..one of these days.

* * *

Sarah opened her eyes and found herself wrapped in Chuck's embrace. She smiled softly to herself and stretched her legs. Yawning, she reached for her phone to check the time and saw that it was five forty-five and her eyes shot open and she shook Chuck awake. "Chuck. Chuck! Wake up!" She stood quickly to put on her bra and underwear and find the rest of her clothes that were sprawled across the cell. "Chuck, put your clothes on!"

"Hmm?" He said groggily, with sleep still apparent in his voice.

Sarah threw his shirt on him and pulled her own shirt on and then slipped her jeans over her hips. "Chuck. Now!"

"Yeah, I'm going." He said while yawning as he pulled on his shirt and pants.

Sarah grabbed the pillow and blanket from the cell and put them back where she found them and then grabbed the unopened candy bar and threw it at Chuck. "Eat this. Drink this." She shoved the almost empty glass of water at him. She put on her heels and then looked at her reflection in the glass to fix her hair as best she could. When she was happy with her results, she walked back into his cell and helped him up from the floor and asked, "How do I look?"

"Perfect. Except you have something right…" Chuck kissed her lips slowly and gently pulled away, "…there. Got it." He smiled and wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her shoulder in a sweet hug. He breathed in as much of her as he could, knowing that she would have to leave soon and be the professional CIA agent that she was. He looked deeply into her eyes and saw nothing but happiness. He lifted his hand to her cheek and brushed his fingers lightly over her soft skin. "I love you, Sarah."

Sarah stood frozen and tensed — unsure of how to respond. Before she could say anything, the alarm that she set on her monitor went off letting her know someone was coming into Castle. "Shit, Roberts is here. Get in the cell, put your socks on." She ran out of the cell and set the lock on Chuck's cell. She ran to the monitor to undo the loop that she had set on the cameras. By the time Jill came into the room, Sarah made it look like she was puttering around on the computer doing random bits of work. "Morning, Roberts."

"Good Morning, Sarah. Was it a long night?" Roberts asked, making small talk.

"You could say that." Sarah said but kept a straight face, knowing Chuck heard her.

"Has Carmichael said anything useful?"

"Nope, he just woke up. He was sleeping like a baby." Sarah answered and smiled slightly in Chuck's direction. "Do you have this covered? I have to go get cleaned up and catch a few hours of sleep."

"I can handle it." Jill smiled and waited for Sarah to leave. Another three hours of guard duty for the rookie agent. Sighing, she whispered to herself, "I can handle it…"

Chuck went to sit on the bench when he caught a glimpse of something in the corner of room. The tranquilizer pistol. When Jill wasn't looking, he slid the pistol towards himself and hid it in the waistband of his pants. After waiting a half-hour, Chuck stood and walked to the glass and caught Robert's attention.

"What do you need, Carmichael?" Jill asked uninterested.

"Please, call me Chuck." He said with a charming smile.

Jill smiled back and faced him, "Okay. What do you need, Chuck?" She asked more sweetly than the first time.

"I know the boss told you not to feed me, but do you think you could cut me some slack. I've been here for almost twenty-four hours with no food. The least you could do is get me some water. Please?" Chuck asked sweetly, knowing she would break down.

"Well…I guess I could give you the granola bar I brought to eat." Jill stood and grabbed the bar from her bag.

Chuck, sure to not make any sudden movements, pulled his newly acquired tranquilizer out of his waistband and held it to the side of his body so she couldn't see it. She approached the door and began typing a few keys to open the small panel that was to allow food in. Right as it opened, Chuck's eyes rolled back in his head and his eyelids fluttered. The flash took over him and the pistol whipped out and pointed directly at the agent's torso and shot five tranqs into her stomach. Before she could say or do anything, she collapsed to the floor. Chuck simultaneously dropped to the floor clutching his head as the flash sent shock waves of pain through his skull. Knowing he can't waste too much time, Chuck fought through the pain and stuck his arm through the small door and started pulling the monitor that kept the doors locked off of the wall. He was familiar with the technology — it was the same lock system that he used in his office, just this was less advanced. He pulled a few wires and rearranged a couple of the wires and then put the monitor back on the wall. Then he punched in the override code into the system and the door opened an inch, allowing for room to push the door open. Chuck shoved the door open and made sure that the other two cell doors were still closed. Then he left Castle, after grabbing his cell phone and anything else the agents stripped him of. He escaped, once again. Chuck-2, O'Mellor-0.

* * *

A/N: I want to apologize for the long wait, but the chapter's up and it had its interesting moments, right? It's short, but summer's coming and that just means more time for writing (I hope!). Thanks for sticking with this story and please review your feelings.


	18. Puerto Vallarta

A/N: Here's chapter 18, I hope you all like it because I had a lot of fun writing this chapter. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Chuck.

* * *

October 14, 2009

Burbank, California

Castle

10:30 am

Casey stepped out of his Crown Victoria and stretched his arms, breathing in a lung-full of fresh air. He rubbed his hand against the side of the Crown Vic and locked the doors before walking in the direction of Castle. His lips were almost turned up into a smile as the sun beat down on his dark hair and broad shoulders. When he reached the glass door to the office building disguising Castle, he cracked his neck, adjusted his shirt, and stepped into work. No one was in the office as he was going through. Roberts was downstairs watching Carmichael, Walker was probably at home sleeping, and Barker was suspended for a week. When he opened the metal door to Castle and bounded down the stairs, everything was peaceful. All he could hear was a hum from the air-ducts and an occasional beep from the monitors. From anyone who knew John Casey well enough, they would even say he was happy.

He made his way through the doors of Castle until he came to the holding cells and unlocked the door. Once it opened, his jawed dropped as he found himself staring at a collapsed Jill Roberts and Carmichael no where in sight. "Shit!" Casey dropped down to check Roberts pulse and then found a handful of tranquilizers puncturing her stomach. He turned his head to see the small food-latch open on Carmichael's door and punched the glass door. "Damn it, Roberts! Damn it!" He took out his phone and made a call to Beckman, then to Walker and even Barker. He pulled Roberts out of the way and checked the locks on Shaw and Ross' doors, assuring that they were secured in their cells. "Goddamn rookies never do anything right."

* * *

Chuck drove down the highway in his newly acquired convertible. His sunglasses were on, his arm out the window, and the wind in his hair. His only partner was the bag of cash in the passenger seat. This was hard to do, but he knew it was time. It was time for a break. A time for some change. He was on his way toward the Mexican border, ready to try something new. After he broke out of Castle, he went to his home to talk to his parents. After much worried screaming from his mother, and plenty of sighs from his father, they decided to have him leave the state for a while. Now Chuck was on his way to Mexico to enjoy some time to himself. It wasn't easy to leave his life behind, but it was harder to leave Sarah behind and alone. His parents told him that this would be a temporary deal, but he doubted that was true. He knew that they didn't want him in Los Angeles. He understood why and even agreed. He was taking too many risks. He loved Sarah and that was too much of a risk. Too much of a risk for him, but especially risky for her. Sarah's job was on the line, along with her entire life when she risked herself being with him. He wasn't willing to let her take that risk anymore. Chuck understood that the people he loved most, he often had to let go.

This brought him back to how he felt about Sarah. He loved her. He told her that he loved her and she didn't answer him. She just stared at him in shock as he proclaimed his love for her. They were interrupted by Roberts walking into Castle, but she still didn't have any response. She still didn't say that she loved him back. He couldn't drag her down with the idea of love and a relationship when she has a career that will never allow her to settle down. He was asking too much of her and now he must leave. It's time for something different and, in this case, different means sun bathing under the hot sun in Mexico.

Chuck brought his hand up to his face and wiped away the tear that was building under his sunglasses. He looked at his phone as it started to vibrate and saw Sarah's face on his screen. He frowned and ignored the call, knowing that hearing her voice would just change his mind. And he couldn't change his mind. He was doing this for her own good and couldn't change his plan now. He loved her and he was doing this for her.

* * *

Sarah threw her phone onto the bed and ran her hands through her hair frustratingly. Chuck escaped from Castle using her tranquilizer gun that she forgot in his cell. If Casey or Beckman found out that it was her fault he escaped, she would be under extreme surveillance and possibly even kicked off the team and out of the CIA. She needed to talk to Chuck and figure out what was going on with him breaking out of Castle, with him following their team, and with him saying that he loved her. Love? What was she supposed to do with love. The only person she ever loved was her father and he disappeared long ago. And now Chuck was saying he loved her. What was she going to do? She didn't know what to do with love, she didn't know how to love. All she knew was that she was having a lot of fun with Chuck and that he was a really nice guy. She cared about him, but love? She wasn't sure if she could ever love someone. In her line of work it was dangerous to love someone, very dangerous.

Sarah sighed and flopped backwards onto her bed next to her phone. She picked it up and played with it in her hands before calling Chuck again. When he didn't answer, she decided to leave a message. She waited a beat and then began talking to his voice-mail. "Hi, Chuck. It's Sarah. We really

need to talk. Okay, so call me back when you get the chance. Uh, bye." She hung up the phone and banged her head against her bed, embarrassed at her voice-mail and how awkward she was being now that he loved her. Everything was different now that he loved her.

* * *

Casey hated the fact that Carmichael escaped. Again. But he still had two other prisoners to deal with and interrogate and he wanted to do it sooner rather than later before they found a way to escape, too. They had been asleep from the tranquilizers since team O'Mellor captured them. Shaw just woke up several minutes ago, and Casey wanted to question him before his girlfriend woke up and started causing problems. Casey dragged Shaw into the interrogation room with the help of Roberts and cuffed Shaw to the chair. Shaw spoke first, "Ah, Casey, good to see you. How have you been?"

"I'll be asking the questions, Shaw. When did you decide to join the rogue organization known as Fulcrum?" Casey questioned sternly.

"Where's Jessica?" Shaw questioned.

Casey shrugged. "We never found her, she bolted before we could get to her. Hard to believe she'd ditch you here, huh?"

"She'll find me." Shaw said, suddenly nervous as he pushed his hand through his rustled hair.

"It's been over a week, she's not coming." Casey lied and watched as Shaw squirmed.

"That's not true. She'll come." Shaw said defensively.

"She was using you. Can't you see that? She wanted you to go against your own team. To go against the CIA. She didn't love you." Casey stated cruelly.

"Sh-she didn't love me?" Shaw questioned, more to himself than to Casey.

"She didn't love you. But you want to know how to pay her back?" Casey asked with some cheer in his voice.

Shaw's fists clenched under the table. "I'll tell you everything."

"That's my boy. My day just got better." Casey perked up.

"Under one condition." Shaw added.

Casey sighed. "There's always a condition. What do you want?"

"A private room in prison. Some years shaved off my time. Some benefits. Y'know, the usual." Shaw smiled his devilish grin and waited for Casey's response.

"You committed treason against your country. Don't expect special treatment."

"Then don't expect me to help you." Shaw retorted.

Casey grunted and got up, "I'll see what I can do."

* * *

November 9, 2009

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Local Bar

3:24 pm

Smoke billowed to the rickety ceiling and added smoking barrier between everything in the bar. Dim lights from the bar fought their way through the smoke, but didn't reach far, leaving most of the bar dark and gloomy. This was a place void of tourists and left alone by all but the drunkard locals. Chuck sat at the splintering wooden bar and toyed with his glass of tequila. It wasn't his first glass of the day, nor was it his second. He quickly downed the drink and took his hat off, knowing he was going to be there for a while.

A young native kid running the bar came up to Chuck and shook his hand loosely. The kid was wearing the bartender uniform; the vest only half buttoned and his tie loosely bound to his neck. His hair was cut short with a tattoo lining the bottom of his hairline. "Hola, Hombre. How's it going? You need a refill?" The bartender said in his Latin drawl.

Chuck nodded and pushed his glass towards the bartender and responded, "Gracias, Mario." Chuck grabbed his glass and downed the shot.

"So, Amigo, I'm out of work in veinte minutos. You want to hang out? Me and a few hombres are meeting up to go to the club. You in?" Mario asked while wiping down the counter next to Chuck.

Chuck had spent nearly a month in Puerto Vallarta and everyday he went to this bar. Most days Mario was bartending and they had grown a bond after talking one night about girls over a bottle of tequila. "Okay, sure." Chuck answered less than enthusiastically.

"Excelente, Amigo! I'll find you after my shift, okay?" Mario asked, ecstatic.

Chuck nodded and pushed his glass forward towards Mario's end of the counter and when the young bartender pulled out the bottle, Chuck motioned for him to just leave it there. Mario nodded and left the bottle for Chuck to have. Chuck pushed his glass to the side and began taking swigs from the bottle.

He was never much of a drinker before he came to Mexico. But with a new environment comes new habits, good and bad. Drinking a bottle of tequila a day was one of the bad ones, but it wasn't just to drown himself in self pity. The Intersect has been drilling holes in Chuck's brain to extreme levels ever since he left the United States. Every time a Spanish-speaking waitress asked to take his order, or when a street vender tried to sell him fresh fruit, Chuck would flash. His brain erupted in his head every time anyone spoke in a foreign language, or when he saw a world-known drug dealer walking on the street, or when code words were brought up in conversation. Alcohol never did the Intersect any favors in the past, if anything it just made the flashing more violent, but with large quantities of alcohol came less use of his senses. His eyes wouldn't pick up on details as he walked, and his ears didn't listen into bits of conversations. Instead he lived half asleep and the only thing that was pained was his heart. Leaving Sarah behind was harder than he imagined. He forgot how horrible it was to not have someone to eat dinner with, or to call up when he was feeling sad. Before he met Sarah, he was lonely, but now that he had to let her go, he was just alone.

* * *

The light shined through Sarah's hotel room window and cast a stream of sunshine on the floor near her. The curtains blew inward as a light breeze pushed against the soft fabric. The wind tickled Sarah's bare skin as she danced around her punching bag in a sports bra and skin-tight shorts. Her sparring gloves masked her hands and her ponytail stuck to the sweat beading on her neck. It was a hot day and her thunderous workout just made it hotter. Taped on her punching bag was a picture of Charles Carmichael's face. It wasn't Chuck's face. Chuck's face always contained a bright grin and a set of smiling eyes. But Carmichael's face only featured a stern forehead with glowering eyes and a set jaw. There was no smile, no happiness. But it didn't matter to her anymore, because she didn't know Chuck. There was no Chuck in her life anymore and she never had to worry about seeing his face again. All she knew now was Carmichael and that she had to catch him.

Aside from a simple, weekly side mission appointed to team O'Mellor by the CIA, their main mission was to track down Charles Carmichael. They had already dealt with Shaw and his rogue Fulcrum friend, Jessica. They were both in a high-security prison alone from anyone else. The team got as much information from Shaw as possible, which wasn't much. They knew that Fulcrum was a rogue, enemy organization fixated on stopping and destroying the government that they used to work for. The agents of Fulcrum are brainwashed to believe that Fulcrum is the real good and the CIA and the government is the evil. Shaw told them of the rigorous training that he had to undergo in order to become a Fulcrum agent and the relationship he thought he built with Jessica. Jessica Ross revealed nothing when interrogated, other than the fact that capturing them would not stop Fulcrum. That Fulcrum would win.

Those two prisoners were dealt with, and now the team has to take care of the last third of the mess, Carmichael. Cole had since been released from his suspension and Jill was under higher levels of surveillance since her mishap with Carmichael. Walker and Casey have both been put in charge of retraining the agents to make them worthy of being on team O'Mellor, the CIA's best.

As frustrating as this whole situation was, Sarah has had no one to use as an outlet to talk to – no Chuck to talk to. But this ordeal has just reaffirmed her disdain towards relationships and towards commitment. When you're committed to someone, you are sad to see them leave, which is why she is happy that she felt no emotional ties towards Chuck.

She landed a brutal kick to the face of Charles Carmichael on the punching bag and staggered backward, physically and emotionally drained. She put her hands on her hips and hung her head, catching her breath. Who was she trying to kid? Of course she felt an emotional tie to Chuck! He was there for her, he saved her. He had saved her from others and from herself. He gave her someone to care about, gave her someone to live for. It's harder going into missions knowing that there was someone waiting for you when you came back. Because then you have to try and stay alive not only for yourself, but for someone else.

Sarah felt tears well up in her eyes and wiped them away with the back of her hand before they could fall. She punched the bag, not in Carmichael's face, and then fell into it as if it were a real person. She clung on to the punching bag in a pathetic hug and whispered to herself, "Why'd you go, Chuck? Why?" And before she realized what was happening, tears began to pour down her face as she clung on to the last thing she had to talk to.

* * *

Chuck staggered up from the weak, wooden bar-stood as Mario motioned for him to follow. They broke through the billows of smoke and found the door. Chuck shook his head to steady himself before exiting onto the busy streets of Puerto Vallarta. The large consumption of tequila did nothing for his motor control, but it helped lower his inhibitions enough to follow a young, Mexican bartender through the streets of a bustling city to an unknown club.

Chuck stumbled down the street after Mario with his straw fedora resting on his head and the almost empty bottle of alcohol loosely held in his hand. His sunglasses hid his bloodshot eyes as they met up with Mario's friends in front of the club. "You ready, Amigo? This is when the fun starts." Mario said with a grin as they walked into the club.

The air was sticky and the bass of the music vibrated the floors. Chuck swallowed the rest of his drink and dropped the glass on a nearby table as he tried to follow Mario and their gang through the thick crowd. He was unaware of what was going on, but followed anyway. Mario didn't stop on the dance floor, or even at the bar. They traveled like a wolf pack to the back of the club with Chuck trailing along like their lost cub. They entered through a metal door and Chuck found himself leaning on the wall of a long corridor to keep himself walking straight. Mario stopped and turned to Chuck, "You alright, hombre? A little too much to drink, huh?"

Chuck forced his eyes open and tried to find Mario's eyes, rather than looking at the floor. "Hmm? Noope, I'm fne" He slurred as his eyes fluttered shut.

"Why don't you take some of this, it will make you feel better." Mario said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out an unknown pill. He shoved it into Chuck's hand and motioned for him to swallow it.

Chuck shook his head and tried to give the pill back, but Mario shoved him against the wall and forced the pill into his mouth. "Now how about you swallow it, Amigo, before I really have to hurt you." Mario threatened, his voice deeper and darker than usual. It lost its playful tone and turned to one of cruelty.

Chuck swallowed and was pulled forcefully along by a few of Mario's burly looking friends. Chuck's head was spinning. His legs were being dragged behind his body now, and he lacked the control to try to make them move with him. The men clutching his arms were doing all of the work to keep him moving at the same pace they were. The music now was just a dull roar that was soaking through the walls, but the bass could still be felt as it reverberated through the floor.

They must have reached their destination when they dropped Chuck limply to the ground. His cheek pressed against the cold floor and his body was covered in sweat. He tried to move his arms to no avail. His brain screamed to his limbs to move, but nothing happened. The only thing he had control over was his eyes and what he could see, but his sunglasses and drooping eyelids proved problematic. The only thing left to do was hope for help, for some form of angel to come and save him. And the only angel that came to mind was Sarah. More than anything, he wanted to see her face, to hear her voice. To caress her soft cheek one last time.

Chuck, unable to do anything else, began listening to the Mexican boy's conversation. It was hard to make sense of anything in his state of mind, but he listened, hoping it would help him later.

"C'mon, Antonio! Mas rapido!"

"Ay dios mio. Yo sabía que esto era una mala idea!"

Now that Chuck was focusing on the voices, he felt the familiar sensation of an oncoming flash. The language partially translated to English, but the drugs and tequila messed with the flash. The Spanish also translated to Arabic, German, and Portuguese. The languages spiraled through his brain, they electrified his nerves and shot a spike into his head. He tried to clench his head, to muffle the pain, but his arms still wouldn't move. His body wouldn't curl into the fetal position, his fists wouldn't clench. There was nothing to stop the pain. All he could do was listen. Listen in pain.

"You need to unlock the safe! We only have a few minutes before the guards come. Hurry!" Mario yelled at Antonio who was punching in codes, trying to get passed the safe's barriers.

"I'm going as fast as I can! They have a lot of money behind this door, they didn't use an amateur-level safe to guard it!" Antonio snapped back as sweat beaded on his forehead.

After a few moments of silence, occasionally filled with insults from Mario, the safe beeped and clicked. The door opened a half inch, allowing Antonio to pull it open the rest of the way. Another one of Mario's men threw a duffel-bag at everyone and Mario motioned for them to each go and fill their bags. Once they all filled the bags and then stuffed more bills into their pants and jackets, Mario yelled, "Wipe the room clean of our prints! I'll take care of him." He grabbed Chuck and pulled his limp body towards the safe door. He sprinkled a few bills on top and around Chuck's body and stuck his hand all over the safe door. "Okay, lets go!" Before Chuck could comprehend what was happening, Mario and his men left the room with their duffel-bags full of cash.

* * *

Team O'Mellor stood tall in front of the monitor waiting for General Beckman to brief them on their next mission. She was sifting through the papers on her desk and tapping her pen on the wooden surface. "There has been a robbery at a club in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The clubs name is Nocturno and has been under suspicion of drug trafficking and drug dealing in the past. Yesterday afternoon, there was said to be a robbery in the club but it wasn't reported to the Mexican police. We believe this to be a weak point for the club and need to act on it. You'll all be sent to Puerto Vallarta after the briefing. Agent Barker and Agent Walker will go into the club together and Casey and Jill will be positioned nearby in a surveillance van. We need Walker and Barker to find any information on any suspicious activity in the club. Any questions?"

The team shook their head, having no further questions. Beckman nodded and continued, "I'll fax over files on the club's owners. Good luck."

Sarah went through the motions of packing and the team met up in the car to bring them to their plane. She took a seat on the smooth leather seat of their private plane and toyed with her cellphone. She idly flipped through her pictures and stopped at a picture of Chuck. His wide grin and bright brown eyes lit up her screen. She sighed and turned off her phone and rested her head on the back of her chair and waited for their arrival in Puerto Vallarta.

* * *

A/N: Alright, I hope you liked it! Please review and tell me what you think. Tell me what you think should happen next, or what you think is going to happen. Thanks for all of your support!


	19. What's Boiling Under the Surface

A/N: Before you all go to read the chapter, I just wanted to say how much I appreciate all of the readers that have stuck around even when I wouldn't update for months at a time. And thanks to all of the reviewers that either just pop in to say 'good chapter' or if they leave me a long message that I can respond to and then talk about my story with them. So, I just wanted to say thank you to all of my readers - even the silent ones - that come back chapter after chapter to see what's next on this roller coaster that is Chuck vs. The Butterfly Effect.

Also, I would like to thank uplink2 for listening to all of my ideas and helping me spitball ideas for this chapter. He was invaluable to this chapter for giving me ideas and getting my creative juices flowing.

* * *

November 10, 2009

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Club Nocturno

8:59 pm

Sarah strutted into the club wearing a black dress that barely reached her mid-thigh and left little to the imagination. Her hair – straightened – fell perfectly over her face. Cole walked in behind her, his blue shirt partially unbuttoned leaving his chest hair brushed by the steamy air of the club. "Walker, the owner of the club is going to be in the VIP section. You go there and try to make him take you out back. See if you can get any information out of him about the drug or weapon trafficking."

With a nod, Sarah left and walked towards the VIP curtains. Before she reached them, she pulled the top of her dress down, revealing as much as she could. A burly guard approached her before she got to the curtain and began speaking in Spanish. "Are you on the list?" He asked and checked his clipboard.

"I'm sure your boss will be happy to see me." Sarah responded in his native tongue.

He grunted, "One moment." He pulled aside the curtain to talk to the occupants inside. "Okay, you may enter."

"Thank you." Sarah said sweetly and pulled aside the heavy curtain to find a middle-aged Mexican wearing a suit jacket with nothing underneath it and a pair of dress slacks. Sarah sat down on the couch next to him and began her mission.

* * *

Cole waited near the outside of the curtain. He sat in a silk covered chair with a drink in his hand, scoping out the area. After twenty minutes, he saw Sarah walk out of the curtains with the Mexican man draped over her shoulder whispering something in her ear. He pulled her towards the back door and unlocked it as Sarah brushed her hand slowly down his back. Cole got up from his seat and caught the door before it closed, making sure not to be seen. He followed a good distance behind Sarah and the owner, making sure not to be seen. Before the two disappeared into a room, Sarah made eye contact with Cole and nodded at him, telling him to follow. As they entered the room, Sarah giggled once more and pulled out her tranquilizer pistol and shot a tranq into the Mexican's side. He collapsed onto her and she let him drop to the ground with a slight thud and then opened the door for Cole.

"We need to check all of these rooms, see if we can find anything." Sarah whispered to Cole as she grabbed the owner's keys from his jacket pocket. They searched five rooms in the long hallway and found several grungy bedrooms that looked like they were meant for prostitutes along with a storage room, and a room for counting the money made at the club. They were walking down the hallway looking for the next room when they heard footsteps coming around the corner. "Shhh, do you hear that?" Sarah asked almost inaudibly.

"Yeah." Cole answered at the same volume. Before Sarah had any time to respond, Cole pushed her up against the wall and planted his lips on hers while holding tightly onto her bottom. She had no time to reject the kiss before a man appeared around the corner.

"What..uh, are you two doing back here?" The man asked.

"I'm one of the new girls. I'm bringing him to one of the rooms." Sarah said innocently as she moved her hips closer to Cole's to help play the part. Cole smiled sheepishly and shrugged his shoulders. The man nodded and walked out of the hallway leaving the two alone. Once they were both sure he was gone, Sarah pushed him away and whispered angrily, "What the hell was that!"

"_That_ just saved our asses." Cole retorted.

"Is that all it was? Maybe next time you should give me some warning first!" Sarah shot back, fuming.

"If I gave you warning, we could have been captured by a group of drug and weapon traffickers. Is that what you want?" Cole asked, surprisingly calm.

"I want you to start respecting me as your partner, and your superior!" Before Cole could answer, Sarah stormed off to finish what they started with Cole trailing behind. She took the key and quietly unlocked the door, checking for anyone else in the room. The room was dark and empty, but for a sheet acting as a wall to the back half of the room. Sarah held up a finger over her lips to keep Cole quiet as she took off her heels and closed the distance between her and the sheet. She pulled her gun out from her clutch and motioned for Cole to cover her from the other side. He nodded and waited for her to pull the sheet back.

One...Two...Three. Sarah pulled back the sheet, making as little noise as possible with her gun drawn and found a sole chair placed in the middle of the room with a man gagged and tied up to the chair. She took several steps closer, gun still drawn, but froze when the man shifted his eyes upward to look at hers. Those eyes didn't contain even an ounce of happiness, but she still recognized them. She was more familiar with those eyes than she was her own father's. They were Chuck's eyes.

"Chuck!" Sarah croaked, not even attempting to quiet her voice. She ran to him and placed her hand on his cheek, only to feel the sticky sensation of partially dried blood. "It's okay, I'm here." She cooed as she untied the gag and got a better look at him.

Chuck sat lifelessly in the chair. His body sunk and he didn't have enough energy to hold up his head. His normally soft, fluffy hair was matted down with sweat and blood. His face was covered with dried blood and a coating of dirt. His clothes, an even worse sight, were ripped and stained as they stuck to his body. The only sign of life was his eyes as they stared at her with a look of defeat. "Chuck, it's okay. You'll be okay, alright? Can you hear me? I need you to tell me if you can hear me." Sarah said sweetly.

Chuck leaned his head into her touch and subtly nodded his head, his eyes closing as he did so. He forced his eyes open to look into hers, seeing the pain circling in the deep blue. He opened his mouth to try to speak. "Sarah," he croaked out, his mouth to dry to make much of a sound.

Sarah leaned in closer, tears welling in her eyes. "Shh, it's okay. We can talk later once I get you out of here, okay? I need you to have enough energy to get out of here so we can go home. I'll get you home."

"I-I'm sorry." Chuck said, throat dry and voice raspy. "I'm so sorry."

The tear that had built in her eyes finally broke free and ran down her face. And she didn't bother to try and wipe it away, because more silently fell. "It's okay, Chuck. It's okay."

Not sure what to take of the scene, Cole moved silently closer to the couple and began untying the rope binding Chuck to the chair. As if just remembering Cole was even in the room, Sarah immediately stiffened and wiped the tears from her face. About to defend what just happened, Sarah tried to speak, only to be cut off by Cole. "You can explain later. Right now we need to get him out of here. Let's help him up. One, two, three.." The two agents lifted Chuck from the chair and his legs quickly collapsed beneath him before he collected enough strength to begin walking.

"Cole, how are we gonna get out of here?" Sarah asked.

"There's a back door, but it'll be bloody difficult to take out their guards with Romeo here on our shoulders." Cole responded.

"Well, we don't have much of a choice now, do we? We can't exactly walk through the front door with Chuck dragging behind." Sarah said, indignantly.

Before Cole and Sarah could continue, Chuck stopped and pulled away slowly from their shoulders that he was using as a crutch. He stood up straight and grasped his broken ribs as he took one last steadying breath. "Chuck, what are you doing?" Sarah asked, worried.

"Let's just get out of here, Sarah." As he limped behind the two agents, he found his straw fedora lying on the ground and placed it on his head to hide his horrifying appearance. They reached the back door without being spotted by anyone and Cole held up one finger to Sarah. Then two. And lastly three before swinging the door open while she took out both guards with relative ease. They quickly exited the club before someone came looking for Chuck. But before they left the back alley, Chuck took off the smaller of the two guards shirt and traded it for his own so he could better blend in on the street.

"How do you plan on getting him out of here, Walker?" Cole asked, expectantly.

"Shit, I forgot about Casey." Sarah said, running a frustrated hand through her hair. "Uhm..what if we..."

"I'll stay in a bar down the street and you two can go back with Casey. In an hour or so, you can come down here and meet me. I have my cell phone and you can call me on your way." Chuck said in a weak voice, still grabbing his torso.

"Are you going to answer my calls this time?" Sarah threw the question at him, the pain she felt from his abandoning her coming to the surface.

Chuck gave her an unreadable look and Cole broke the silence. "That's a good plan, but will you be okay until then? You don't look so good, Chuck."

"I'll be fine." Chuck answered, but never broke eye contact with Sarah.

"Okay then. Let's go, Cole." Sarah snapped, not giving Chuck a second glance. The two agents walked in the opposite direction as Chuck. He wobbled down the street, attempting to hide the pain he was in. He didn't want to have Sarah's pity after everything he did to her. Before he disappeared into a nearby bar, he turned back and looked once more at Sarah, and found her looking back. He gave her a half smile to make light of the situation and she looked quickly away, making her way back to the van.

Chuck frowned to himself and opened the door to the bar – a less revolting bar then the one he had spent most of his time in while in Mexico. There was a guitarist strumming away on the stage and a few people seated at separate tables throughout the bar listening. A waitress weaved through the tables, making her rounds and the female bartender greeted him in fluent English. "Hello, sir. Can I help you?"

"Could you point me towards your bathroom and I'll have some scotch for when I come out." Chuck said as strongly as he could muster as he made his way to their bathroom. He closed the door tightly and locked it, assuring he'd have no company. Reluctantly, he looked at himself in the mirror. Blood was caked to his face, darkening his appearance. Taking off his hat, he found more blood there, clumping his hair into chunks on his scalp. He painfully unbuttoned his new shirt and evaluated his stomach. There was bruises covering him from his neck to his waist – purple, yellow, and black splotched across his chest. He was about to run his hands under the faucet, when he caught site of the bleeding rope-burns on his wrists and the torn skin on his knuckles and palms. He turned the water on and gently began to scrub away the dried blood and dirt. The water filling near the drain a dark brown. Several of the wounds in his hands opened and began to bleed again, but he continued his cleanse. He washed away the dirt and blood from his face and hair. He used his fingers to untangle the hunks of matted hair and remove the blood sticking it together.

He didn't bother to wash away the blood on his chest or legs, instead only worrying about the areas that the public could see. He didn't want to stick out too obviously in a crowd. He glanced at himself once more in the mirror and was somewhat less startled by what he saw, but still frowned at the appearance of his own face. He took his hat and placed it snugly on his head and finished buttoning his shirt.

Chuck emerged from the bathroom and found his glass of scotch waiting for him on the counter. He sat on one of the bar stools and took a sip of the liquid. He breathed in a sigh of relief. The liquid sent a warm sensation through his body and down his limbs. He took a bigger drink of it and waited for the affects to kick in. This time he wasn't drinking to drown himself in self-pity, but instead to relieve some of the pain that coursed through his body. He took another swallow of the scotch and the ache began to subside and was replaced by an overwhelming sense of warmth. When the bartender returned to Chuck to fill his glass, he nodded in approval. He finished off several glasses of scotch before he saw his phone light up on the counter. He smiled involuntarily at seeing Sarah's face brighten his screen. He picked up the phone and answered, "Hello, this is Chuck." He said in a chipper voice with a wide grin on his face.

Through his phone, he heard Sarah's voice, _"Where are you?" _She asked in a demanding tone, no cheer evident.

"Well someone's in a bad mood." Chuck mocked.

_"This is not the time or place, Chuck. Now, where are you?" _Sarah snapped.

"Maybe I don't want to tell you." Chuck teased her.

_"Chuck! Are you drunk?" _

"No. Not drunk. Not drunk at all. Really. I swear. I missed you." Chuck stumbled over his own words.

_"If you don't tell me where you are, I'll track your phone's coordinates and when I find you, you won't be happy!" _Sarah threatened, losing her patience.

"Track my phone's coordinates? I like it when you speak nerd to me."

_"Chuck!" _Sarah yelled, temper flaring.

"Okay, okay. I'm at the bar." Chuck gave in to her demand.

_"Alright. What bar, Chuck?" _Sarah asked, attempting to gain some of her lost patience.

"Hmmm. I don't know. Let me check. Excuse me, Barkeep. What's the name of this nice establishment." Chuck slurred, attempting to be charming. "Thank you very much. Sarah? You there?"

_"Yes, Chuck."_

"I am at the Roadside Bar." Chuck said proudly.

_"Thank you, Chuck. I'll be there in two minutes. Don't move."_

"You got it, pretty lady." Chuck flirtatiously responded, but butchered the statement with his slurred speech.

Chuck waited for Sarah to come to the bar after paying his check and saying thank you to the bartender. After several minutes, he saw her. He saw her beautiful, golden hair glow under the bar's lights. He saw her perfectly curved body move seductively as she walked towards him. She stopped a few feet from where he was standing.

"Hey." Chuck greeted and gave her his trademark goofy grin.

"Hi, Chuck. Let's go." Sarah said curtly and turned on her heel to lead Chuck out of the bar.

"Hey, Sarah, where are you going?" Chuck asked desperately, trailing behind.

Still leading the way at a fast pace, she opened the door to the bar and began walking down the street. "To a hotel down the street. I rented you a room. C'mon, keep up."

"It's a little hard when the ground keeps moving.." Chuck said while stumbling over his own feet.

"You are drunk! What happened to you, Chuck? A month goes by and you are a completely different person. I come to investigate a club in Mexico known for arms dealing and drug trafficking and I find you tied up in one of their back rooms! When I tried to call you after you broke out of Castle, you didn't answer my calls. Not one. And now I save your ass and leave you alone for an hour and you're drunk by the time I come back! You never drank back in the states! Because I know it's hard for you to be responsible, but if you don't remember, you have a super computer in your head. And alcohol messes with the way it functions and you know that! You know that, Chuck! So why are you drunk? And why did you leave me?" Sarah vented her anger that was boiling under the surface, but never broke stride as she weaved her way down the street.

Chuck stopped in his tracks and spoke more softly than she expected. "Honestly, Sarah, I'm drunk at this very moment because I'm guessing that I have at least three broken ribs and over fifty percent of my body is covered with severe bruising. Is that a good enough reason for you? Now let's go." Chuck began walking and passed by Sarah, accidentally bumping her as he stormed by.

Sarah, now slightly embarrassed by her excessive verbal brutality toward Chuck, met his pace and led him to his hotel room, keeping him steady with a gentle hand on his arm. He walked into the hotel room after Sarah unlocked the door and he sat on the end of the bed, taking off his shoes. He then crawled up farther onto the bed and rested his head on the pillow after throwing his hat onto a nearby chair.

"Chuck, don't you think we should talk?" Sarah asked skeptically, unsure of how he would respond after their previous confrontation.

"Yeah, we will. But I have spent the last day strapped to a chair getting the living shit beat out of me, so if you don't mind I'm going to get some rest. Feel free to join me." Chuck slurred out with his eyes shut and patted the bed next to him, welcoming Sarah to join.

Sarah sighed and sat down in a nearby chair. She rubbed her face with her hands and rested her elbow on the arm rest. Before she knew it, she heard the noises of sleep come from Chuck. She got up quietly from her chair and walked to the edge of the bed to inspect his condition. His face was covered in scratches with bruises on his cheek bones and jaw. She began to gently unbutton his shirt and paused when he stirred in his sleep. She continued and opened the shirt when she was done. She found bruises lining most of his muscles and blood matted in his chest hair. Frowning, she lightly ran her fingertips over the tender area. She stood over him, taking in the devastating sight of a man that claimed to love her. The first week he disappeared, she assumed that he was laying-low for a while, but would come back to see her. She thought that he was just protecting her. But the second week that he refused to answer her calls, grief took over and she couldn't help but cry when she was alone at night. The third and fourth week brought anger. Anger for him leaving her, for not answering her calls, for giving her no explanation. And now she stood over his battered body, wondering what she would have felt if she didn't come to save him. What if he was laying on this bed dead instead of just injured? How would she have felt then?

Exhausted from all the days events, Sarah crawled to the empty side of the bed and rested her head on the pillow. Her eyes followed the slow rise-and-fall of Chuck's chest until she drifted into sleep.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Casey got up stiffly from his seat in front of a monitor when he heard the door to his hotel room open. Jill was already sitting in a nearby chair reviewing some of the footage from the club as Cole walked in. "How's the progress?" He asked in his British drawl.

"We've got nothing so far except for the prostitutes that you and Walker found out back. Where is Walker, anyway?" Casey said while opening the refrigerator door and leaning inside it.

"She's back in her private room sleeping. She's had a long day, wanted to call it a night." Cole lied for his new partner, hoping this act would help gain some trust. Casey grunted in response, his head still in the fridge. "Could you pass me a beer, Casey?" Casey came up from the fridge with three beers in his hand and gave one to Cole.

"You want one, Roberts?" Casey asked and got a nod in response, her eyes still glued to her monitor.

"Guys, you should probably see this." Jill spoke up and waited to continue until the two male agents made their way to her. "I was able to hack into their security system and view their security feed from the last week. The first half of the week showed nothing abnormal, but a few days ago their was a jump in the tape. It chopped out over an hour of tape and then goes back to normal – the only thing different is the safe room. There's someone on the floor near the safe. Do you see it?" She asked the boys, their eyes now locked to the screen. They couldn't make out who it was because of the poor quality of the tapes, but they could tell that there was a man on the floor, passed out.

"Can you zoom in? Make it bigger?" Casey asked, inquiring about who the man could be.

Jill shook her head, her lips pursed. "I'm sorry. The feed is grainy enough at this view. If we zoom in, all we'll see is pixels. To try and smooth the image and identify who that is could take weeks. And even then, it might not work."

Cole stood over the computer and stared at what he knew to be Charles Carmichael – or as he now knew him as, Chuck – passed out in front of an empty safe. Money was strewn over his body and it appeared that he was a scapegoat for someone's robbery. A robbery that he was a part of.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Chuck awoke with an arm draped over his chest and a body curled up closely to his. He smiled at the sight of Sarah's sleep-covered face. He shifted in order to sit up without waking her, but wave of pain hit his chest and he groaned loudly in response – his body fell back down into a lying position on the bed. Sarah awoke immediately and instinctively reached for a weapon. But before she could find one, reality hit and she remembered where she was and Chuck's condition. "Chuck, are you okay?"

Moaning, he spoke while clutching his midsection, "Yeah, I'm peachy. Nothing like a little early-morning pain to wake you up, right?" He joked but stifled his laugh when the pain bit at his torso.

"I think I have some aspirin in my bag, let me go get it." She said and began to get up when Chuck grabbed her arm.

"Don't get up." He said seriously and pulled her back down to be eye-level with him. He moved closer to her, his face inches from hers.

"I was going to come ba-" She was cut off when his lips met her own. She brought her hands to his face and met his kiss full force. Her body closed the distance between them and her hips worked magic on his own. His hands started at her thighs and quickly – yet carefully – made their way up to her hair. The kiss grew more heated when Sarah suddenly pushed against his chest and separated her lips from his. "No..no! You hurt me! You left me! You left me when I was vulnerable and you knew that and then you came here? To Mexico? To do what? To have a near death experience with a bunch of arms dealers? Was it so hard being with me that you'd rather be tied up to a chair in the middle of a dark room, bound and gagged?"

"Sarah, I'm sorry. I'm really, really sorry." Chuck pleaded with her as he tried to sit up on the bed.

"No, Chuck. You don't get to say sorry! You lost that privilege when you refused to answer any of my phone calls! You didn't answer one of them. Not one." Sarah ranted as she got off the bed and paced around the room with her hands on her hips.

"Look, Sarah, just let me explain." Chuck tried to calm her down as he stood from the bed and watched her walk back and forth in front of him.

"Why should I let you explain? Should I let you explain why you used _my_ tranq gun to take out Roberts so you could break out of Castle? Because that was a hell of a lot of fun trying to cover up with the rest of my team so I didn't get my ass thrown out onto the street. Or maybe I should let you explain why you said you loved me and then disappeared. And you didn't just disappear for a few days, Chuck. You were gone for a month – and would have been gone for longer if I didn't just save your ass! But most of all, maybe I should let you explain why the hell you were locked in the back of that club covered in blood and bruises!" Sarah was yelling now, with tears welling up in her eyes, her lips quivering.

Chuck walked slowly up to her and placed his hands securely on her arms and began to rub up and down. "Sarah. I am so sorry that I hurt you. I was doing all of this to protect you. Because I love you."

Sarah hit Chuck in the chest with her fist, "Then why would you leave me if you love me? Because the only thing it did was make me hate you!"

Chuck clenched his jaw when her fist connected with his bruised chest but felt more pain by her last statement. "If you really hate me, then I'll leave – right here, right now and never walk into your life again. But something tells me that that's not true."

"I-I don't hate you, but I hate everything that you did!"

"Sarah, listen to me. Listen. I left because I was getting too close. Because I was being captured by your team and sooner or later, someone was going to find out. And when that time came, I didn't want your whole life ruined because of me. So as much as I love you, I had to let you go, because I thought I was doing what was best for you. And I couldn't answer your calls, because I knew if I heard your voice, just once, that I wouldn't go through with it. That I would turn around and come find you." Chuck's voice has lowered to a whisper now, tears rising in his eyes.

A tear fell onto her cheek and she didn't move to wipe it away, "And did you ever think about how I would feel about this plan?"

"Honestly, I thought you would get over me a lot faster than this." Chuck huffed a sad laugh to himself as he wiped away her sole tear.

"How could you think that, Chuck? We've been together for months. But that doesn't even matter, because I fell for you a long time ago – back when you broke into Castle for the first time. I don't know how you could even think that's true at all, that I could just get over you." Sarah said, remembering their first encounters together as she gently rubbed her hand against his bare chest.

"It's not really much of a stretch. You are so perfect – in every way. Like the way your hair falls over your shoulders. Or the way the light catches your eyes and they just sparkle. Or the way you took a chance with a guy like me, a guy that everyone else thought was just another criminal. You believed in me and stuck with me – even after you found out I had the Intersect and after you found out what it was doing to my brain. You didn't care, if anything, it made you like me more." Chuck brought his hand up to her hair and brushed a loose strand behind her ear and then wiped away another tear that broke free. "And then there's me. One of the CIA's most wanted who, on paper, looks like a total bad ass. But that's just Charles Carmichael. But Chuck's just a nerdy guy who grew up moving from place to place – his only friend his sister – and spent all of his time reading comic books or hacking computers. But the truth is, I'm no James Bond. I'd be lucky to be considered his Q. But really, I'm only Chuck. Not James Bond, not Charles Carmichael, just Chuck Bartowski."

Sarah took a step closer to him and placed her hands on his upper-chest, almost on his shoulders. She moved one hand to his cheek to caress it softly. "I'm not looking for James Bond. I had a James Bond in Bryce, Shaw, and in Cole and I don't regret not being with any of them. Because I didn't fall in love with James Bond, or Charles Carmichael. I fell in love with Chuck Bartowski." She spoke softly as she moved both hands to his neck and pulled him down to her as she met her lips with his. But this kiss wasn't a heavy and heated kiss. This was soft and tender – filled with forgiveness, not lust. Sarah broke the kiss only to whisper in his ear, "Don't ever leave me again."

"Never," He whispered back, almost unheard as his lips grazed her ear.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

A/N: I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. This one was great to write, especially the arguments between Chuck and Sarah. Not that I like to see them fight, but there's so much boiling beneath their surface, it's about time it all blew up. Anyway, I would love it if you all read and review and I will update as soon as possible. :)


	20. Going Home

A/N: I'm sorry for not posting in such a long time, but life seems to take over. Sorry for the short chapter, but I wanted to get something out to everyone. Hope for more frequent updates this summer.

I don't own it.

* * *

November 12, 2009

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Chuck's Hotel

4:27 pm

Chuck stepped out of the shower into a cloud of steam and grabbed the towel hanging on the bar next to him. He wrapped it around his waste after he dried most of his toned, but bruised body and rubbed it through his hair. He faced the mirror and wiped away the fog that stuck to it and frowned at his still battered face. He opened the bathroom door and took a few steps into the main room of the hotel only to find Sarah sitting on the edge of the bed talking on her cell phone.

"...we're in room nine. How long will it take you to get over here? Okay, perfect. See you then. Bye." She hung up the phone and turned her head and a smile crept onto her face. Chuck stood tall, muscles defined and covered in droplets of water. His hair, dripping, fell onto his forehead. The only thing she wished to change were the cuts and bruises that enclosed most of his body. She walked up to him and put her hands lightly on his chest, her fingers toying with the hair that covered it, and ran a hand along the yellowing bruises that colored skin.

Seeing her eying him, he gently grabbed her wrist and slid her hand into his own. "It's okay, Sarah. The bruises will fade, the cuts will heal. We're both alive and that's what's important."

Sarah smiled and lifted her head to look him in the eyes and said, "I know. And on the bright side, they make you look sexy." She rose to her tip-toes and brushed her lips against his own.

Their lips parted as he spoke, "And I thought my dashing good looks and charming personality made me sexy"

"Nope, just the bruises." She joked and pulled his head back down to hers.

He pulled away again after a few moments, a smile on his face, "Well, in that case, I guess I'm going to have to find a girl that will-" He stopped when he saw the incredulous look on her face, her hands resting on her hips. "Y'know what, I think I can suffer through with you." He teased and put his hands on her back, pressing her to him.

"Suffer? Am I really that bad, Mr. _Bartowski_." She emphasized his name, knowing now that he isn't Charles Carmichael, but Chuck Bartowski.

"No, you're perfect." He whispered as he slowly kissed her neck and was pleased when a sound caught between a moan and a purr came from her mouth. Then, what he started slowly, picked up speed as she ripped off his towel and threw it across the room, his hands simultaneously pulling her shirt over her head. His hands fumbled with her pants, but she assisted him with the matter. They fell onto the bed in a twisted heap, legs dangling off the edge, when a knocking at the door caused them to freeze.

"Shit, that's probably Cole." She untangled herself from Chuck and ran to the door, attempting to put on her jeans at the same time. Looking through the peep-hole, she saw Cole's face, impatient, on the other side. "Just a second!" She rushed to throw on her shirt and waited until Chuck had a pair of jeans on as well before she opened the door.

"Took you long enough, what were you doing anyway?" Cole asked as he stepped passed Sarah into the room. When he saw Chuck's face turn red, he straightened. "Oh, now it makes sense why you rejected me all those times. You were sleeping with this guy." He nodded to Chuck and held out his hand for him to shake.

Chuck hesitantly shook Cole's hand and said, "Thanks for helping me out yesterday. And thanks for what you're doing for me and Sarah."

"You're welcome. As long as this..thing doesn't tamper with any of our missions, then what the bosses don't know, won't hurt them." Cole said genuinely and smiled. "But now it's time for us to talk. I need to know what happened in that club."

"I'm sorry. I don't really know if I can help." Chuck said sheepishly.

Sarah placed her hand on his arm and spoke, "It's okay, Chuck. Just walk us through it. From the beginning."

"Okay..here we go. I had been going to this local bar for the past couple weeks and got to know a kid bartender that worked there. The day before you found me, I had had to much to drink when he asked me to come hang out with him and his friends. I went along, not knowing what was going to happen when we went into that club. Most of it was a haze, really. We went through the back doors – the employees only ones – and into a room with a big safe. That's when they drugged me with something and I couldn't move. All I could do was listen. I heard them rob the club. The bartender – he was the leader – kept yelling at the guy that had to open the safe. He was yelling at everyone to hurry up. He told them to leave me there and they left. That's all I know."

Cole nodded and asked, "Do you know the bartender's name?"

Closing his eyes, Chuck thought, "It starts with an 'm'. Manny..Mark..no..Ma..ma..Mario. Mario, that's it. And the safe guy, that was, um..Antonio!"

Cole stood and said, "That's good, Chuck. I'm going to scope out the bar and try and find this Mario. I'll let you stay with him, Walker. But after I search the bar, we're going to have to report this to Casey and Roberts. And we're going to need proof..." He trailed off, waiting for Sarah to catch the hint. When she did, her head shot up, eyes wide and shocked.

"No. No, Cole! I'm not bringing him to Casey. You told me you wouldn't say anything to the bosses and-"

He cut her off, "I said I wouldn't say anything if it didn't get in the way of a mission. It just got in the way. We have to bring him in. I'm sorry, Sarah."

Sarah impulsively went for her sidearm, Cole daring her move, when Chuck placed a gentle hand over her own. "It's okay, Sarah. I'll do it." He said shakily, unsure still of his decision. "Uhm, Cole, can we have some time. An hour?"

Cole was unsteady, then nodded. "One hour. I'll go check on Mario, see if I can find him at the bar." He walked out of the room. "One hour!"

Once he left, Sarah put her hands on Chuck's neck and kissed him firmly. "Let's go."

"Sarah, I can't. We can't." He said as he brushed a strand of hair out of her face.

"Please, please just listen to me. We can go anywhere you want. If you get brought in, then you're done. We're done. You go to jail, and I never see you again. Is that what you want?" The tears that had just recently grown familiar to Sarah's eyes were tickling the surface, yet again.

"No, of course not." Chuck grabbed her by the arms and then pulled her in for a hug. He soothingly rubbed her back. "That's not what I want. I want you. I want you forever."

"Then why are you doing this?"

"Because I love you." He pulled away from her to put his forehead against her own. "And you wont be happy living on the run. I've been doing it my entire life and I would never put you through that."

She punched him roughly in the chest and got satisfaction when he winced, "Why do you have to be such a nice guy? Why can't you just be a jerk? It would make this whole process a lot easier."

His hands took a sudden steel grip on her ass as he pulled her tightly to his body. "You want me to be a jerk?" He brought his head down and teasingly bit her bottom lip. Then tugged.

"Yeah." Sarah nearly moaned at his forwardness.

"'Cause I can be a real ass." He whispered into her ear and threw her onto the bed. She gave a yelp and erupted into giggles, only stopped by his mouth clashing with hers. "How mean do you want me to be?" He spoke seductively into her ear.

She responded in turn by scraping her nails down his back and bringing her mouth to his ear and tugging, "A complete jackass."

* * *

Chuck, now dressed in khaki shorts and a t-shirt, paced around the small hotel room. Sarah sat on the bed and watched him continuously circle the room. "What if we use a web-cam?" Chuck threw an idea into the mix of the many. He had already suggested talking to Casey through a bulletproof-glass wall, making the exchange of information in several unmarked, black SUV's, and sending a letter in Morse-code. All of which were declined by Sarah.

"Web-cam is only slightly better than Morse-code. We need something more face-to-face." Sarah said in frustration, still not wanting to bring Chuck into the hands of her superiors.

"And again I return to the bulletproof glass."

"And again, I say no. Too much preparation." Sarah sighed.

"Why can't I just send an anonymous tip?" Chuck asked.

"Because this is a government agency working in a different country. The stronger the lead or source, the better."

"Then we should just meet in a populated area. One where Casey would hesitate before pulling out his gun. Somewhere with children and families, but not so populated as to cause chaos." Chuck suggested.

"Like a restaurant. Not a fancy restaurant. Something like a pizza place. There will be families, children, louder conversation. That's good, Chuck."

He smiled proudly and said, "I know just the place."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Sarah called Cole and made the arrangements to have the meeting at a local family restaurant. Sarah and Chuck walked into the restaurant and found the three agents sitting in a nearby booth – and as hoped, there were families of many ethnicities in the booths and tables surrounding them. When they approached the booth, a low growl emitted from Casey's throat. He reached carefully for his sidearm before looking around and pulling his hand away. "Carmichael." He said curtly.

"Casey, Roberts." Chuck said in greeting and without any small-talk, told them the same story he told Sarah and Cole.

"You expect us to believe you had nothing to do with the robbery that took place at the club?" Casey immediately shot back as a response.

"Yes! I've helped you! I've saved you! Just trust me for once! I'm trying to help you, Casey. I've always been trying to help you." Chuck said desperately.

"You're a criminal, Carmichael. We'll look into your story, see if it's true. But you're coming with me." Casey said as he pulled a pair of handcuffs from his back pocket and slid out of the booth. He grabbed Chuck's arm and yanked him out of the booth and onto his feet. Before either Chuck or Sarah could react, Casey had Chuck cuffed and was on his way out of the restaurant.

"Casey, aren't you being a little hasty. He's trying to help us." Sarah pleaded, hoping he would understand.

"He's still wanted by at least four government organizations. I have to bring him in. Sorry, Walker." Casey walked to the car and pushed Chuck into the back seat. Roberts got into the passenger seat as Casey positioned himself behind the steering wheel. Sarah stood outside the car for a few moments before taking a seat next to Chuck in the back seat. "Roberts, I'm going to drop you off with Agent Cole and this will be your first solo mission. You two can find intel on the information that Carmichael gave us and I'll drive back to the states with Walker and Carmichael."

"Understood."

* * *

Casey, Walker, and Chuck sat silently in the car traveling too slowly toward Burbank, California. Chuck's hands were bound and his wrist's sweating where the handcuffs were anchored. He attempted to shift positions, but his sweating thighs stuck to the leather seats. Instead, Chuck dropped his head onto the back of the seat and wished he go somewhere far, far away from there. Away from the scorching heat, the NSA agent who wants him locked up for life, and those damned handcuffs. Chuck sighed and spoke up, "Can someone turn some AC on in here?"

Sarah looked back at Chuck and smirked, "Shut up, Carmichael." She snapped in her most menacing voice. He even believed her for a second until he saw the friendly glint in her eyes. Luckily, Casey was focused on the road and couldn't see the smile on his partner's face.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I figured you would stop cooking me at medium-well, but-" Chuck remarked and winked at Sarah when he saw Casey's gaze wasn't toward the back seat.

"One more witty comment like that and I'll throw your medium-well ass out of this car so fast-" Chuck cut her off before she could finish.

"I'm sure it won't be that fast. It's incredibly challenging to maneuver in vehicles."

"I'm certain my gun won't have any problem." Sarah quipped and shot a smile at her criminal.

"You're right there." Chuck paused for a moment until he saw a rest area sign up ahead. "Hey, Casey, I gotta pee."

"I think there's a bottle-" Casey muttered.

"We wouldn't want to force Agent Walker into viewing something like that, do we? There's a rest stop in a half-mile."

"Fine. But you better make it fast." Casey pulled into the rest stop and brought Chuck to the bathrooms while Sarah bought some snacks for the ride. She walked to the car and leaned against the door waiting for Chuck and Casey to return. She yawned and instinctively glanced at her watch. It was later than she suspected and she was beginning to feel exhaustion kick in. When she saw Casey's large figure approach her, she she said, "Casey, I'm going to catch a few hours of sleep in the backseat before we arrive in Burbank."

Casey nodded in response and purposely put his bag in the front seat so Chuck couldn't move up there. Even though the front would be more spacious, the back of the car would contain Sarah Walker. And that wasn't something that Chuck was willing to pass up. He scooted into the back seat, still handcuffed and only mildly sweaty. Sarah hopped in after him and closed the door behind her. She rested her head on Chuck's lap and curled into a small ball. He desperately wanted to touch her soft, golden hair or her smooth, delicate skin. When Casey began focusing on the road, Chuck let his hand slowly brush a piece of hair out of Sarah's face. She smiled up and him and brought her hand up to his leg and squeezed reassuringly. She left her hand on his thigh as a connection between the two, even though that was as close as they could get. Casey looked back at them a few times during the ride, but showed no signs of suspicion. Eventually, Chuck was able to fall asleep. Soon after, Sarah's breathing slowed and she fell into a comfortable slumber.

* * *

Jill sat uncomfortably in a Mexican dive bar, waiting for any of Carmichael's leads. Normally, having a stakeout occur in a bar would be better than a muggy-van, but her company was less than favorable. Ever since Cole learned why Sarah had been turning him down, he has been going after Roberts instead. "How will we even know what this Mario guy looks like if he comes in?" Jill asked.

"Carmichael said he works behind the bar. They're supposed to change shifts in twenty-minutes. But until then, we could order something to-"

"Cole, we're working." Jill said tersely.

"I was going to say something to eat, but apparently you're not a fan of eating on the job." Cole feigned having had his feelings hurt.

Jill, not wanting to be rude tried to back-track, "It's not that, I'm just trying to be professional and I thought you were implying something."

"Implying what?" Cole prodded.

"That you..you know." She insisted.

"No, actually I don't." He smirked as he fibbed.

"You've been hitting on me for the past hour and you're going to tell me that you don't know what I'm talking about."

"Hitting on you? No." Cole said dramatically, emphasizing his point.

"Don't give me that, Mr. Barker. You were using classic spy-school technique. You can't use those old moves on me. They don't work." Jill insisted and then looked away, hoping the bartender has made an appearance.

"What does work?" Cole whispered seductively in her ear.

She wasn't facing him, so he could see the look of fear on her face. Part of her wanted to slap him for his tenacity, but another part of her wanted him to scoop her off her feet and to the nearest hotel. Before she had to worry about either scenario playing out, she spotted a new bartender coming in for his shift and he fit Mario's description. "There he is. Let's get him."

* * *

Mary Bartowski stood in the kitchen making dinner when she heard her husband hollering from his office, "Mary! Mary! Get in here!" She ran to see her husband only to find him huddled over his desk, eyes glued to his monitor.

"What is it, Stephen?" Mary asked impatiently, waiting to get back to making dinner.

"I've done it, Mary, I've done it. I can save him. I can save our boy." Stephen spoke with such happiness in his voice. "It's the Intersect, Mary. I've fixed it."

She stared at her husband in shock, understanding that he's found a cure for their son. "You can help Charles?" She looked at him with tears welling up in her eyes.

He stared back with a look of hope, "I think so." He said as he stood from his chair and moved closer to his wife. He enclosed her in a close hug and rubbed her back. "I'll do everything in my power to save our son, Mary." He whispered in her ear.

She kissed him gently on the cheek and whispered back, "I don't know about the Intersect, or the CIA, but I do know you. I believe in you, Stephen Bartowski. Don't let me down."

* * *

Sarah awoke with her head resting in Chuck's lap. She yawned loudly stretched as much as she could in the confines of the car. She sat up and noticed that Chuck was awake as well. He was looking at her with a look of amazement on his face. He smiled before he said, "Oh, Agent Walker, you're awake. How was your pillow?" He asked, indicating to his lap.

"I wished it was bigger, but.." She trailed off when she heard Casey laugh from the front. She shot Chuck a quick wink and began talking to Casey. "We almost there, John?"

"Ten minutes out, if traffic stays like this." He responded without looking backward.

They road the rest of the way in mostly silence until they arrived at Castle. Casey unhand-cuffed Chuck in order to avoid drawing suspicion from any onlookers. Casey grabbed the keys for the building while Sarah made sure Chuck didn't run away. "Don't get any ideas, Carmichael." Sarah said to him in her best intimidating tone.

"Does it mean you'll chase after me?" Chuck retorted sharply.

"Not likely. Casey'll just shoot you."

"No funny business, it is." Chuck followed them obediently into Castle and sat in the chair that Casey ordered. Sarah handcuffed him to the chair and sat on the edge of the table next to him.

"We need to let Beckmen know what happened, but she won't be up at this hour." Casey looked at the clock and realized it was two in the morning. He yawned audibly and Sarah spoke up.

"Why don't you go get some shut-eye and I'll keep an eye on Carmichael?"

Casey thought about it for a moment before nodding. "Thanks, Walker. I'll be back to conference with the General at seven a.m." He left after a few moments and Sarah immediately went to disable the footage system. After the last several incidents with Chuck in Castle, she wanted to take precautions against them being caught on camera together. She was able to loop old footage in order to cover up the next five hours she spends there with Chuck. After she dealt with the cameras, she quickly found Chuck handcuffed to his chair. "Comfortable?" She asked as she walked into the room.

"Not in the slightest, but thanks for asking."

She laughed at his answer before taking out her keys and unlocking his handcuffs. He quickly rose from the chair and cupped her cheek in his hand. He brushed his lips to her own and then enveloped her in a close hug.

"Chuck?" She asked quietly.

"Yeah."

"How are we getting you out this time?"

He pulled away from her enough to look her in the eyes. "I actually have an idea, if you're up for it."

"I'm up for anything that gets you out of here safe, Chuck. What is it?"

"We could send a message to my parents to have them get me out of here, but-"

"But, what?" She asked expectantly.

"But I haven't talked to them for the last month either..and I didn't leave on good terms." Chuck looked worried as he rubbed his forehead.

"You think they'll be angry when they see you?"

"I think they won't come." He responded with more bite than he intended. He still held anger for his parents and how they treated the situation with him. But he also didn't want to be captured by a government organization and used as a lab rat for Intersect testing.

"Chuck, they're your parents. They might say horrible things and they might act like assholes sometimes, but in the end, they're still your parents. They love you."

He thought about it for a moment before writing the number to his parent's secure-home-line down on a piece of paper. "Will you let them know what's going on, I'm tired." He said with a defeated tone to his voice.

"Of course, Chuck. Anything you need, just let me know, okay?" She said and tried to reach for his hand, but he turned and walked away too quickly. She frowned and looked at the slip of paper in her hand. She picked up her phone and dialed the number. After the fifth ring, someone picked up the phone, but didn't say anything. "This is Sarah Walker. I'm calling about Chuck. We've met."

"Yes, Sarah, this is Mary. What have you found out about my boy?" Mary responded as if Sarah were a long-lost friend.

"He's been captured and is stuck inside a government facility. We need your help getting him out."

* * *

Again, sorry for the short chapter, but I wanted to give you all something to read. Reviews are welcome, thanks!


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